THE DRAWBRIDGE. 257 



A fact or two statistical concerning these fences. 

 When Kalm, the Swedish naturalist, travelled through 

 New Jersey, he studied these structures, as well as the 

 animals they harbor, and his account is of considerable 

 interest : " The enclosures made use of in . . . New Jer- 

 sey," he says, " are those which, on account of their ser- 

 pentine form resembling worms, are called worm-fences. 

 . . . Experience has shown that an enclosure made of 

 chestnut or white-oak seldom holds out above ten or 

 twelve years before the poles and posts are thoroughly rot- 

 ten," and then wonders " what 6ort of an appearance the 

 country will have forty or fifty years hence " — he wrote 

 in 1749 — if some new fencing methods are not devised. 



As a matter of fact, Kalm was misinformed as to the 

 durability of our woods when thus used, or a great 

 change has taken place. I know of a fence erected in 

 1826 that is at present in fairly good condition, and 

 contains a large percentage of the original cedar rails ; 

 and the newer chestnut rails, with which the fence was 

 last repaired, are nearly thirty years old. So, too, 

 Kalm was in error about posts placed in the ground. 

 White -oak now will last for twenty years, and cedar 

 as long ; locust posts are still in use, and are yet firm, 

 which have been in the ground for half a century. The 

 catalpa, too, is quite equal to locust, perhaps better. 

 Much depends, I take it, upon the condition of the 

 wood when placed in position. It should be thorough- 

 ly dry. Perhaps Kalm's informers were not acquainted 

 with this fact ; and I cannot but think that the earth had 

 some corrosive element in it two centuries ago which it 

 does not now possess, or in far less degree. 



