NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



381 



roof. The roof is covered with No. 2, the sides 

 with No. 1. The color of both is stone — No. 1 

 neaiiy that of freestone, with a shade of handsome 

 drab, and gradually becomes a little lighter. No. 2 

 is considerably darker ; but this too becomes lighter 

 by exposure to the air. I intend giving to the body 

 of the building another coat, when sharp, clean sand 

 will be thrown against it ; and I doubt not, but I shall 

 obtain a rich imitation of freestone. 



The water cement used was from Southington, 

 Connecticut, known as Moore's Ccni'mt. 



It is not, like the Ohio paint, patented. 



CHARLES R. ALSOP. 



MiDDLETOWN, Ct., ApHl 27, 1849. 

 — Albany Cultivator. 



Incombustible Prepauation for Wood. — The 

 following recipe for rendering wood incombustible, 

 has been, we believe, tested in regard to its efficacy, 

 and although personally we have not seen it proved, 

 think we can recommend it as being of much utilitj', 

 particularly when applied to the surface of wooden 

 roofs, or other places particularly exposed to the 

 action of fire. 



It is very simple in its preparation, which requires 

 the operator merely to take a quantity of water pro- 

 portionate to the surface of the wood he may wish to 

 cover, and add to it as much potash as can be dis- 

 solved therein. When the water will dissolve no 

 more potash, stir into the solution, first, a quantity 

 of flour paste, of the consistency of common painter's 

 size ; second, a sufficiency of pure clay, to render it 

 of the consistency of cream. 



When the clay is well mixed, apply the prepara- 

 tion, as before directed, to the wood ; it will secure 

 it from the action of both fire and rain. In a most 

 violent fire, wood thus saturated may be carbonated, 

 but it will never blaze. 



If desirable, a most agreeable color can be given 

 to the preparation, by adding a small quantity of 

 red or yellow ochre. 



FENCES. 



The following article, from the Philadelphia Dol- 

 lar Newspaper, contains judicious remarks ; but we 

 do not agree with the writer in his conclusion, that 

 the hawthorn makes the best fence. As a matter of 

 utility, or having a fence merely as a protection against 

 animals, it is doubtful whether any hedge could be 

 recommended, as it costs much to raise them and 

 keep them in good condition and handsome appear- 

 ance ; and a flourishing hedge extracts a great deal 

 of nutriment from the soil, which, under diff"erent 

 management, might be turned to good account in 

 crops. Yet, as an ornament and defence, a hedge 

 combines these advantages above any other fence. 

 But the hawthorn does not generally flourish well in 

 this climate, as it is destroyed or stinted by our hot, 

 dry summers. 



The residence of a farmer cannot be complete un- 

 less it is surrounded by fences both convenient and 

 pleasing to the eye. Let his grounds be ever so well 

 cultivated, or his buildings ever so tastefully ar- 

 ranged, without neat fences the whole scene becomes 

 a glaring caricature, more ridiculous from the con- 

 trast between order on the one hand and a disre- 

 gard of taste on the other. 



Who would think of building a fine mansion, and 

 of enclosing it with a slender apology for a fence, so 

 constructed as to prevent the entrance of cattle, not 

 by its strength, but by frightening them, as if it were 

 aot to be approached without danger ? And yet, 



how many farm-houses arc enclosed by a zigzag 

 thing overgrown by weeds ! To complete this in- 

 teresting picture, we find on one side of a pair of 

 bars a large pig trough, and on the other a few 

 boards placed, one end on the ground, the other on 

 the fence, to provide a dozen half-starved road-pas- 

 tured swine with a sleeping apartment. So much 

 for the mere appearance of things in front. liCt us 

 now take a walk to the back- part of the farm, and 

 sec how poor fences answer the purpose there. 



In one corner of a field of grain, or of a meadow, 

 an unruly horse is quietly grazing ; in another, a 

 yoke of oxen are regaling themselves with becoming 

 gravity ; in a third, a few pigs are at the business 

 with a will ; and to make all square, a flock of sheep 

 occupy the fourth corner. No farmer can possibly 

 flourish under such auspices, for if his land produces 

 grain, "like sand on the sea-shore," his cattle will 

 break in and destroy it ; but no one will dispute the 

 utility of good fences, to constitute which several 

 things are necessary : — 



First. A fence must be sufficiently high, otherwise 

 it offers a temptation to spry, young cattle, or to old 

 transgressors, to step over and take a toothful of for- 

 bidden fruit. 



Second. It must be of sufficient strength, for some 

 beasts are " wont to push with the horn," and a board 

 over the face is no ornament to a good-looking 

 animal. 



Third, It must possess durability, for repairing old 

 and rotten fences is no pleasant task. 



Fourth. It must not be too expensive, for Yankee 

 farmers dearly prize " the dollars." 



Lastly. As a sine qua nan, beauty must be com- 

 bined with the above requisites. 



The question then arises. What kind of fence has 

 all these good qualities r And it may be answered, 

 the hawthorn, or hedge fence, so common in England. 

 This possesses " the useful with the agreeable,' ' and 

 harmonizes finely with a country scenery. 



TRANSPLANTING TREES. 



We find, in the Utica Gazette, facts showing that 

 it is not necessary to select small trees for transplant- 

 ing, in order to insure their growth. Large trees 

 may be as successfully planted as small ones. The 

 mode and result of an experiment, made by Messrs. 

 Pomeroy and Button, of Utica, are thus given : — 



Those gentlemen transplanted trees, comprising 

 maples, elms, beech, &c., some thirty feet in height, 

 which were transplanted without being shorn of any 

 of their branches. The process of removal was as 

 follows : In the fall, before the frost, a trench was 

 dug around the trees selected, from ten to fifteen 

 feet in diameter, and the roots severed. In the 

 winter, when the ground had become solid from 

 freezing, the trees pulled out by the aid of oxen and 

 levers, with the mass of earth firmly attached to the 

 roots. They were then transported erect on a strong 

 sled, built for the purpose, and set out. 



The trees grew in open land a mile and a half 

 from the city. They put on their foliage last spring, 

 as if Avholly unconscious that they were not still in 

 their native soil ; and the enterprising gentlemen who 

 undertook this unusual course are rewarded with 

 shade trees, which by the old practice would have 

 required twenty years to produce. 



To REMOVE Stumps. — If they are dry, set them 

 on fire ; if not, chain an upright lever, from eight to 

 twelve feet in length, to them, and hitch a yoke of 

 cattle to the upper end of the lever. If the lever is 

 a good one, and firmly chained, the stump will be 

 keeled over very easily. Stumps decay soonest if 

 cut high, as they then hold most water. 



