1864. 



THE ILLINOIS FAEMER. 



35 



should not. be set with either of these 

 implements, unless in case of necessity, 

 where the ground is too hard to drive 

 them. Posts should be got ready by 

 the middle of January, sharpened and 

 hauled on to the line where they are 

 to be used. They should be cut ceven 

 feet long, and when sharpened, see that 

 you sharpen the top or upper end of 

 the post, as we know by experience 

 that a post set top end down will last 

 much longer than one set with the but 

 end down. We are not disposed to 

 argue this point or to attempt to ac- 

 count for it, as we are positive that it is 

 a fixed fact, and will bear any amount 

 of scrutiny. It will cost no more to 

 put the top end into the ground than 

 the but, and if there is no advantage, 

 there certainly is no loss. Iq sharpen- 

 ing be careful to leave the point in the 

 centre, and dress down all sides alike, 

 that is to the same bevel. During the 

 January thaw is a good time to drive 

 the posts, the ground is then soft and 

 yielding, when two men will set from 

 one to two hundred per day, depending 

 on the size of the posts and condition 

 of the soil. With a spade or post au- 

 ger, one hand will set, sr.y, forty posts, 

 but to do this he must work very hard, 

 nor can he set them when the ground 

 is very wet, which is just the time to 

 drive them. In seven and a half days 

 at this rate he will set three hundred 

 posts. To sharpen three hundred posts 

 will require three days of ordinary 

 hands, though a good chopper will do 

 them in less than half the time, and to 

 drive them, two days with two hands, 

 mjaking a total of seven days, nearly 

 the same amount of work. But this 

 latter can all be done when the former 

 is impossible. With common farm 

 hands, such as can sharpen and drive 



the posts, you will not get on an aver- 

 age more than twenty set in a day. 



Posts that are driven two and three- 

 fourths feet into the groimd, as is con- 

 templated with a seven foot post, that 

 is four feet and four inches above 

 ground, will stand much better than 

 when put in any other way, and we 

 have a fancy will last a much longer 

 time. The earth is packed so close 

 about it that the air is to a greater de- 

 gree excluded, and does not undergo 

 so many changes from dry to wet and 

 wet to drv. 



A fence set with the spade or post 

 auger, is very apt to be leaned over by 

 the winds, or be thrown out with the 

 frosts, a misfortune that seldom occurs 

 to those driven as described. For the 

 past twenty years, we have been in the 

 practice of driving all our posts, and 

 visitors have always remarked the rBg- 

 ularitv of our fences. 



In setting the posts, we put them 

 eight feet from centre to centre, using 

 a sixteen foot board. As these are 

 generally cut longer, many of them 

 overrunning eight inches, we never saw 

 them off, but lap the end back on the. 

 last panel, and use a twelve or 

 twenty penny nail by driving through 

 both boards. In this case the end of 

 the last panel is not nailed until it is 

 ascertained whether the next board 

 will lap over or not. When it does not 

 lap over use a common eight penny 

 fence nail, and if it laps a larger one. 

 In this way the fence is quickly made, 

 with the same cost of nails, and no saw 

 is used. In case the fence is taken 

 down for removal there is less waste of 

 material, while the saving of labor in 

 putting up, is no smallitem, .,t . : --i, v 



In this mode of making fence, you, 

 do not have to wait for the boards, but 



