3L2 Transactions of the American Institute. 



the atmosphere is beneficial. General CL described the mountain 

 scenery, the sunlight, the varied colors, the clear air of Colorado. 

 Those whose homes are amid these delightful scenes cannot grow old 

 rapidly, and the aged may find returning unexpectedly something of 

 the bouyancy of youth. 



i Fences and Fencing. 



A correspondent, C. It. Smith, expressed the opinion that of no 

 one thing pertaining to their art are farmers so generally ignorant as 

 of the cost and relative value of fences. Men of good judgment in 

 other matters build board fences, with three boards a foot or more 

 in width, while four, six inches wide, of good thickness, would make 

 a fence more sightly, less likely to be injured by high winds, and in 

 every respect a better fence, with a saving of about 5,000 feet of 

 lumber to the mile, which, at Western prices, twenty-five dollars per 

 1,000, would amount to $125. They build the zig-zag, every rod of 

 which puts nearly 200 feet of land beyond the reach of the plow ; 

 amounting to one and a half acres per mile. Mr. Greeley's wall fence 

 costs him five dollars per rod, making $1,600 per mile. They are 

 probably about four feet wide, and cover half an acre of land to the 

 mile, which, at fifty dollars per acre, amounts to twenty-five dollars 

 for land. Fence and land amounts to $1,625 per mile. Straight 

 board or wire fences occupy but little land. Board fences with iron 

 posts, costing about ten dollars, as proposed by Prof. Colton, come 

 in competition with wooden ones, costing from twenty-five cents to 

 seventy-five cents each. Those of w r ood will last about ten years, 

 while the iron ones ought to hold out from forty to fifty years, and 

 then what is left will be about one-quarter the first cost for recasting. 

 One of the worst features of the wooden post business is the destruc- 

 tion of young trees. A large part of the fence posts and the sleep- 

 ers for our 50,000 miles of railroad is taken from young and thrifty 

 growing trees. We may as well expect our flocks and herds to increase 

 while we slaughter a large portion of the young, as that our forests 

 will improve while we do this. A country without forests is poor 

 indeed. Better part with our coal fields and gold mines than with 

 them. The arts of peace and the necessities of war require their 

 preservation. Our springs and streams of water and climate depend 

 upon them. They furnish us not only fuel, but material for our 

 almost infinite variety of wooden manufactures, from a wooden spoon 

 and lucifer matches to the mast of a ship. Long trains of cars and 

 heavy-laden ships are constantly carrying their products to distant 



