156 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
and bank, post and board fence. Let us see if we can 
calculate the prime cost of enclosing the same 36 acre 
field after this manner, as we have done for the common 
worm fence. 
First, then, a ditch 3 1-2 feet broad, 2 1-2 feet deep and 
5010 feet long is to be dug. We will begin with five negro 
men. Their task daily will be 15 rods, they will finish it 
then, in 20 days. Their daily cost will be $4. Hence 
the ditch will cost $80. The posts can be set in the 
ground 7 feet apart, hence it will require 720 posts. They 
can be mauled out in 4 days by any able hand, hence the 
mauling expense will be $3. The cost per hundred just 
half that of the rails, as they need to be but four and a 
half feet long. The 720 posts then will be worth $0. 
Hauling the same, $3. Four hands can dig the holes and 
set up, easily, 50 posts a day. Hence it would require 15 
days at $3 per day, or $45 to set the posts. The plank, 
14 or 21 feet long, 6 inches broad, would cost $50. The 
nails, $5, and the plank could be nailed on in 4 days by 
2 hands, 75 cents each per day, or $6. By adding up the 
above difterent costs, you will find the cost of such a fence 
to be $201. 
Now, as. to their durability; if the common fence lasts 
ten years, the post and board fence is good for twenty, 
hence the latter would be the cheaper fence if it cost 
double the former; inasmuch as nothing would be ex- 
pended in repairs, or re-building for double the length of 
time. If the ditch bank be set out with the Cherokee rose, 
or Scotch bramble, or some other prickly evergreen, the 
ditch will be impassible for years after the decay of the 
fence. 
In building the post and board fence, it is said to be ad- 
visable to char the ends of the posts sunk in the ground. 
Of this, we cannot speak with certainty, further than that 
we have always observed among old rails, if any of them 
had a burnt end, it was surely more sound and solid than 
the end unburnt. We have seen it also recommended to 
invert the posts, so that in the fence they would stand up 
side down to what they were in the tree. Of this, also, 
we are unable to speak knowingly, but have sufficient 
reasons to believe it to be the proper method of planting 
posts. 
Mr. Editor, for one, we are opposed to either of the 
above fences around our cultivated lands, and firmly be- 
lieve it should be required of every owner of stock to pas 
ture them upon his enclosed, while his cultivated lands 
were left entirely open. To enclose hogs, some sort of 
close fence wo\ild be required, but let each hog-raiser se- 
lect that for himself To enclose cattle or horses, nothing 
is required more than a row of posts from 12 to 15 feet 
apart, with 2 or 3 courses of strong wire running through 
them. The worm fence, as well as the ditch and bank 
fence, are furthermore extensive, because tliey occupy 
about one acre of every forty which they enclose. We 
trust our Legislature will, before they build many more 
State Houses, turn their attention to this necessary want 
of the larger portion of the State. 
Yours respectfully, Monticello. 
P. S. — We selected the 36 acre field merely as an aver- 
age in size among our fields, believing that where there 
are 10 larger, there are 15 smaller, and hence more, ex- 
pensive to enclose. M. 
[ Winchester Herald. 
I^^^Thb modest maiden, the prudent wife or the care- 
ful matron, are much more serviceable in life than petti- 
coated philosophers, blustering heroines, or virago queens. 
She who makes her husband happy, and reclaims him 
from vice, is a much greater character than ladies described 
in romance, whose whole occupation is to murder man- 
kind with shafts from the quiver of their eyes. — Gold- 
srnith. 
MINERALS OF ALABAMA. 
The following list (from an exchange paper) shows the 
mineral wealth of our sister State in a most favorable 
light. Georgia, Tennessee and many other States are 
equally rich in valuable marbles, ores, &c., but thus far 
little has been done to make them practically avaible : 
Mr. Editor : — Dear Sir — I have observed that you oc- 
casionally publish lists of the minerals of the State, which 
leads me to suppose that a revised list may be acceptable 
to you, and interesting to your readers. The following 
may be considered as correct up to this date, at least, so 
far as the survey has proceeded : 
Actinolite, 
Tallapoosa, Chambers, 
Albite, 
Randolph, 
Alum slate, 
Blount, etc, 
Asbeshis, 
Chambers, 
Beryl, 
Randolph, 
Coal, Bihiminous, 
Tuscaloosa, Walker, etC; 
Cannel, 
Walker, 
Brown lignite 
Clarke, Greene, etc, 
Dolomite, 
Benton, Jefferson, etc, 
Fluor Spar, 
Benton, 
Garnets, 
Randolph, 
Graphite, 
Tallapoosa, Benton, etc. 
Gold, native, 
) Randolph, Tallapoosa, 
5 Coosa, Talladega, 
Gypsum, 
Limestone, ^ 
Heavy Spar, 
Benton, Bibb, Jefferson, . 
Cyanite, 
Tallapoosa, Randoph, 
Hornblende, 
Chambers, Randolph, etc^ 
Limestone, Marble, 
Talladega, Bibb, etc. 
Magnesia, sulj)hate, 
Tuscaloosa, DeKalb, 
Mica, 
Chambers, Randolph, etc, 
Qiiartz crystal, 
Randolph, etc. 
L'ourmaline, 
Serpentine, 
1 Chambers, Tallapoosa, 
Soapstone, 
Tallapoosa, 
Strontianite, 
Blount, etc. 
Talc, 
Tallapoosa. 
ORES. 
Copper, Pyrites, 
Randolph, Talladega, 
Carbonate, 
St. Clair, etc. 
Cobalt, 
Randolph, 
Iron , Pyrites, 
Tallapoosa, etc, 
Arcenical, 
Talladega, 
Ore, Magnetic, 
Chambers, 
Specular, 
Jefferson, Cherokee,. 
• Brown hematite, 
Shelby, Jefferson, etc, 
Carbonate, 
Tuscaloosa, Walker, 
Bog, 
Chambers, etc. 
Manganese, black oxide 
Lead, Sidphuret, 
Benton, Randolph, etc. 
Cadbonede, 
V Benton, 
Zinc, Blende, 
) 
It will be perceived that-we have now all the workable 
ores of iron ; the extent of some of the beds is not yet de- 
termined. All the localities where these minerals occur, 
are not given, nor could I notice all, without extending 
this communication to an unreasonable length, the build- 
ing materials, and other rocks and minerals of the State. 
Very respectfully, 
M. Toumey, 
University of Aloiam a, Eeb.., 1855. 
“Pl.^nt a tree — train a vine — deposit a flower seed 
and nurture its blossom — paint the fence — slick up the 
yard — fix the sidewalk — erect a tool-house— prune the 
oi'chard — make a hen-coop — in short, give heed to neatness 
and to the little tilings that constitute the grand aggregate 
of health and public beauty.” 
