156 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



For the New England Farmer, 

 STONE W^ALL vs. 'WOODEN PENCE. 



Use ok Small liocKs — Good Kuads — Um>i;iu>i<aixing. 



Some farmers are not very much in favor of 

 stone wall as a farm fence, because the cost is so 

 much. It is true that stone wall would cost much 

 more than wooden fence, where timber is plenty, 

 and rocks are scarce ; but where rocks are plenty, 

 and timber scarce, stone wall is not always the 

 most expensive fence. For example : suppose a 

 farmer to have a piece of land which he wishes to 

 enclose and cultivate ; the measurement is twen- 

 ty-five rods on each of the four sides ; it would 

 take one hundred rods of fence to enclose it, and 

 there are rocks enough on it to build one hundred 

 rods of wall ; the rocks, or a part of them, at 

 least, must be taken off before the land can be 

 cultivated to advantage, and when taken to where 

 the fence is wanted, they can be laid into wall for 

 thirty-three cents per rod ; the digging and draw- 

 ing should not be charged to the wall, but to the 

 land as improvements, so there are one hundred 

 rods of wall for $33. 



To enclose the same piece with rail fence, three 

 rails high, rails twelve feet long, and making a 

 reasonable allowance for splice, it would take 

 nearly one hundred and forty-four posts, and four 

 hundred and thirty-two rails. 



144 posts ready to set, at 10c each $14,40 



432 rails " " 6c each 25,92 



Sotting up 100 rods rail fence, at 2c per rod 2,00 



One hundred rods rail fence $42,32 



It will be seen by the above figures, that the 

 cost of the rail fence is a fraction over twenty- 

 eight per cent, more than the cost of the walls ; 

 that, perhaps, is more than an average, but there 

 ■ are many fields here on the granite hills of the 

 Granite State that are plowed and sowed, raked 

 and mowed, year after year, over rocks where, if 

 they were taken out of the way, the plow, the 

 harrow, the mowing machine and horse rake 

 would work enough better to pay the cost. And 

 when drawn to the place where a fence is wanted, 

 they can be laid up into wall for less than the cost 

 of a suitable wooden fence. 



Again, some will say, "Stone wall covers up 

 too much soil." But it should not be built on 

 the soil ; the soil should be taken off, and it 

 should not be built so wide as it often is. Some 

 farmers will say, "I build my wall wide to use up 

 my small rocks." There is a better use for your 

 small rocks than to lay them into wall five or six 

 feet wide, on top of the soil, and have it tumble 

 down at that. When you wish to build, dig a 

 trench as wide as you wish your wall, or a little 

 wider, if you like, take out all the soil (and the 

 subsoil too, if it is a good loam,) and cart it to 

 your barn cellar, or some place where it can be 

 used to increase the manure heap ; then dig the 

 trench a trifle deeper, taking out enough to bank 

 up the wall a little, to prevent the manure and 

 soil washing into it ; fill up the trench with small 

 rocks, and build a good single wall on them, and 

 you will have a good fence. If you have plenty 

 of large rocks that you want to get rid of, begin 

 by placing the largest at the bottom of the trench 

 and fill the space, if there is any, between the 

 large rocks and the sides of the trench with small 

 ones, and save the remainder of the small rocks 



for some other use, and the wall will stand all 

 the better for it. If there is a piece of highway 

 that is rough, or low and muddy, over which you 

 cart your manure to the field, and you have a 

 quantity of small rocks left, cart them into the 

 road and level them off a little crowning, and as 

 smooth as practicable, ten or twelve inches deep, 

 or deeper, as occasion may require ; cover them 

 over with good road-gravel, level it ofl" and rake 

 it over as smooth as a garden bed, and with a 

 heavy roller, roll it down hard and smooth, and 

 you will have a piece of good, smooth and dry 

 road, that will remain so for years ; one that will 

 not sag down in the middle, hold the water, and 

 cause mud like an all gravel road. The water 

 that does not run off will soon settle down among 

 the rocks and leave the road dry. In considera- 

 tion of all this, if the highway surveyor will not ac- 

 knowledge your highway tax paid, you can make 

 out a bill against the town, and if you are not 

 satisfied that that is a paying business, you can 

 use up your small rocks on your farm in a way 

 that will pay ; for there is another way in which 

 small rocks are useful, viz : 



UNDERDRAINING. 



On most all rocky farms, there are some cold, 

 wet spots that would be greatly benefited by un- 

 derdraining, Avhich may be done in the following 

 manner : Dig a ditch, from three to five feet deep 

 and any convenient width, throwing the soil and 

 subsoil on one side, and that below the subsojl 

 on the other side. Fill the ditch to within fifteen 

 inches of the top of the ground with small rocks, 

 and cover them over with forest leaves, .straw, or 

 something of the kind, to keep the soil from sift- 

 ing down among the rocks. Then with the plow, 

 turn in the soil and subsoil that was thrown out, 

 and there will be a good underdrain. That which 

 is dug out below the subsoil may be spread and 

 mixed with soil, with no disadvantage to it. 



How this way of draining would compare with 

 tile draining, I am not able to say, for I never 

 have used tile. But I have a drain put in with 

 small rocks, that has been in twelve years, and it 

 has not failed to do its work yet. And I have 

 some others that have been in but two and three 

 years, that have nearly paid for the digging ; be- 

 sides, I think it worth something to have a place 

 to put the small rocks out of sight without cart- 

 ing them from the field. I can say from experi- 

 ence, that small rocks rightly used, help to make 

 the best of roads, but I think it pays better to use 

 them for underdraining, and take pay in grain 

 and grass, than it does to use them for mending 

 roads and take pay in riding over them. 



Amherst, N. H., Feb., 1861. D. N. 



Remarks. — The above contains many excellent 

 suggestions. Draining on hard land with stone 

 will answer very well, because mice would not be 

 likely to Avork there. In this kind of draining, it 

 is quite common to err in making the drain un- 

 necessarily wide, and not deep enough. If the 

 drain is to be filled with small stones, one a foot in 

 width and four in depth, would be more effective 

 than one three feet wide and three deep. 



With regard to the disposal of stones, we think 

 there is one rule of universal application, which 



