1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



451 



stono," there seems to be no limit to its endurance, 

 if well cared for. A pine board exposed to the 

 weather will last as long as it is kept well paint- 

 ed. Now for the proof. The front yard fence 

 has stood sixty years. It is of pine, and a part 

 of it of palings or slats less than an inch square, 

 and these are most of them as sound as ever. 

 The lattice-work in the lower part, where the 

 joints have opened by the settling of the founda- 

 tion so as to admit water, has decayed somewhat, 

 so that on the whole, the fence has been con- 

 demned, and a new one takes its place, of round 

 palings one and one-fourth inches diameter, four 

 inches apart from centre to centre, and four feet 

 high, with an acorn top above the top rail, say 

 SIX inches, the lower rail resting on the hewn stone 

 underpinning which upheld the old fence. Then 

 we find most of the casings on the old posts, af- 

 ter sixty years' service, sound enough to use 

 again, preserved by the paint outside, and pro- 

 tected from the air and moisture within. But 

 how about the ventilation inside these posts ? 

 The casings were air-tight, and yet the boards 

 are sound insi(!lfe, and are hardly stained by time ! 

 The posts themselves are mostly sound above 

 ground. One, however, was found so decayed 

 as not to preserve even its form, but this, too, 

 was part of the old frame, while others of white 

 oak are as good as new, except the bottoms. 

 They all were years ago spliced up and supported 

 by small foot posts, which are still sound, so that 

 our best judgment is that the original posts and 

 this renewal have lasted the sixty years. 



My father had never, in a long life of careful 

 observation, fully determined whether a chestnut 

 or white oak post is the more durable. Either, 

 made of good seasoned timber, will last from 

 twenty to thirty years. I am using dry chestnut, 

 eight inches square, and expect them to last pret- 

 ty well toward the end of this century. 



The old urns, which surmounted the original 

 fence, with some stopping of cracks with pine 

 wood and putty, will keep their old places, on 

 the posts. They, too, have been preserved all 

 these years, by the repeated coatings of white 

 lead and oil. 



"How much does such a fence as that cost ?" 

 is a question which I have several times answered, 

 and which I am very happy to answer in the pa- 

 per, because it has been much the fashion to 

 ■waste money in such structures. Probably some 

 readers may smile when informed that the fence, 

 except the posts, came from Boston, forty miles 

 by rail, and six by wagon ! But I knew the dif- 

 ference between hand labor and machine labor, 

 and there is no planing machine, or other aid to 

 carpentry, in this neighborhood, so I stepped into 

 a wood-turner's in Boston, and gave an order for 

 the palings and rails, and in a few days they ar- 



rived here in good order. There is about seventy 

 feet in length of the fence, and it cost, for two 

 hundred palings, six dollars ; rails bored, and mill- 

 planed, and delivering at depot, seven dollars ; 

 freight on the rail sixty cents ; by wagon fifty 

 cents ; making in all fourteen dollars, ten cents, 

 or about twenty cents a foot besides posts, and 

 the labor of setting, which would cost perhaps 

 ten cents a foot more. Now I think it is worth 

 knowing, that a neat, durable fence, good enough 

 for any place, may be built so cheaply ; and any- 

 body who reads this letter carefully, may find, 

 what nobody could tell me, exactly the propor- 

 tions and expense of such a structure. It is fin- 

 ished, all but the painting, and is satisfactory to 

 ourselves, and a discerning and critical public. 



In most places, instead of building an orna- 

 mental fence, I would plant a hedge ; but here 

 we have to strike several times to find a spot 

 where a crow-bar can penetrate between the stones 

 with which the ground is filled, so that a hedge 

 was almost impossible. 



With many regrets that you are not with us 

 for a Massebesic pond party, I remain, 



Truly yours, H. F. F. 



Remarks. — Thank you, Judge. Few things 

 would give us more pleasure. The information 

 you have imparted, is just what thousands of our 

 people need. The question, How best to pre- 

 serve buildings and fences ? is one of great im- 

 portance to our farmers. Shingles scarcely last 

 more than a dozen years now, and replacing them 

 is always an expensive repair. 



For the New England Farmer, 



mtelajjE oil soap vs. the bakk louse. 



Almost every cultivator, whether great or 

 small, is unfortunate enough to have some apple 

 trees which escape good culture, or are diseased 

 at the root. Young trees in a feeble condition 

 invite the bark-louse ; and although good culture 

 may not remove them, it generally, if not always, 

 prevents their appearance — that is, so far as my 

 experience goes. 



A few years ago I discovered that three o^' four 

 of my trees were infested with this insect, than a 

 stranger to me. Some of the trees had been ne- 

 glected ; but one, though well cultivated, had 

 been badly split at the root in setting, and 

 should have been put upon the brush heap. Upon 

 this the bark-louse appeared and spread very rap- 

 idly, so as much to deform the bark. I applied 

 whitewash for two seasons, but the bark grew no 

 smoother, and as I found the tree in a dying con- 

 dition, it was exterminated. To the others, not 

 so bad, ley was applied ; but the insect did not 

 seem to be checked ; then soft soap, but without 

 much success. For the two past seasons I have 

 applied whale oil soap, reduced by hot water to 

 the consistence of paint, and put on with a paint- 

 brush. I did it in the spring and also in June. 

 Wherever applied, the louse began to disappear, 



