Field Gates. 
59 
mixture is as thick as ordinary paint ; the wash can then he 
laid on with a brush, and the second coat given as soon as the 
first is dry. 
Under the specification in use on the North Eastern Railway, 
five gallons of creosote oil is forced into each 9 ft. by 10 in. by 
10 in. post, under a pressure of 150 lb. per inch. The process 
can only be well carried on at works specially laid out and 
provided with machinery for the purpose. 
In making the gates, oak or ash is used for the heel and 
head, the heel being 6 in. by 4 in., and the head 3 in. by 3 in., 
both being 4 ft. 3 in. long ; the top rail is 4 in. by 3 in. at the 
heel end, and 3 in. by 3 in. at the head ; the next two rails are 
3^ in. by 1 in., and the two lower rails 3 in. by 1 in. ; the strut 
is 3j in. by 1£ in., and the brace 3 in. by 1£ in. ; the brace is 
placed 2 ft. from the head. 
The ironwork is of the ordinary class, and does not call for 
special description. 
The average cost of a gate and posts, fixed complete and 
painted, is about 21. 
H. COPPERTHWAITE. 
THE MIDDLEMAN IN AGRICULTURE. 
In a complex state of society and a thickly populated country 
the sub-division of labour naturally attains its greatest detail. 
This is especially so as regards Agriculture. In a primitive 
state of society the tiller of the ground may find a direct and im- 
mediate market for his produce ; but where the consumers are 
congregated in vast groups it is obvious that there must be 
some machinery for bringing the products of the soil to them 
from greater or less distances. 
Strictly speaking, so soon as agricultural produce leaves the 
farm on its way to the ultimate consumer it begins to incur 
costs of distribution. 
“ Before agricultural produce is brought to the market, the 
industry of many other labourers has been called in besides 
those who are actually working on the farm, all of whom will 
receive a certain share of the produce in the form of wages. A 
farmer may employ bargemen to take his wheat by canal to a 
particular market, but these bargemen must be paid wages, 
just in the same way as labourers who are employed on the 
farm. Again, a farmer may join with others to pay labourers 
