1880.] 
AMERICAN AG-RICTJLT URIST 
93 
ie wet and cold on the borders, long after the rest, 
owing to the snow which has been caused to lie in 
drifts by the wood fence. The wire fence does not 
produce perceptible snow-drifts.”.... 
Injury from Barbed Wire. 
In our closing remarks last month (page 53), we 
said : “ None of the long, sharp-pointed barbs hav¬ 
ing perpendicular sides, or those nearly so, and 
none of those inclined in any direction to act 
partially as hooks, are adapted for use along high¬ 
ways or where clothing will be iikely to come in 
contact with them. None of the above barbs are 
adapted to small inclosures, or where valuable ani¬ 
mals are in danger of contact with the long, sharp 
points of any form. Though they may be so short¬ 
ened as to remove dangei of fatal injury, disfiguring 
sores and scars will be produced. Something in 
the form of the ‘ Brinkerhoff Improved,’ with sides 
so inclined as to prevent catching and tearing, and 
so short as not to produce deep incisions when 
struck 6quarely, will need to be provided.”.... We 
repeat this with emphasis, and say further, that 
while the strongly-barbed wires may probably be ad¬ 
vantageously used for the large pastures of the 
West and South-west, we do not advise their use 
generally where farms are divided into smaller 
fields and where valuable animals are kept. For all 
such locations, strong wires, or straps—perhaps with 
barbs so blunt as to be incapable of cutting or tear¬ 
ing the skins of horses and cattle, or of tearing the 
wool from sheep—will come into use. We have re¬ 
ceived many communications, some detailing 
injuries, and others approving the barbs, of which 
the following two are given as average samples: 
Mr. R. C. McWilliams, an old subscriber of the 
American Agriculturist in Northumberland Co., Pa., 
personally gives us items from his experience with 
barbed wire fence. He has not discarded its use, 
and does not absolutely condemn it; hopes the 
embankment described last month (page 53), or 
some other device, will render it less dangerous. 
He had a valuable cow that had one leg cut down 
to the bone, “ nearly half off,” and the flesh badly 
torn by the fence barbs. She was a long time in a 
dangerous condition. A $300 horse had both legs 
cut, and a wound on the side. He had paid $18 
for a Veterinary Surgeon’s attendance, had the 
horse laid up 3 months, and it was not well yet. 
He thought the present value of the horse might 
be $50 for ordinary work when fully recovered, 
though he could only get an offer of $30. His 
father-in-law, Dr. Jacob Reigard, of Ogle Co., Ill., 
has a half mile of barbed fence, and though not 
entirely satisfied with it, does not condemn it. 
H. L. Raven, of Travis Co., Texas, writes us : 
“.... As to the injury to live stock, which seems to 
be the great objection to barbed wire here, my own 
experience is that the danger is not of great extent. 
I have had no serious accidents. Only one horse 
has scratched itself, though I have put into the 
pasture horses that had never seen a wire fence. 
But it is best to be careful and not crowd animals 
towards these barbed wires until they learn where 
they are. Barbed wire will be a great boon to 
Texas,enabling us to put into cultivation large tracts 
of land that would have lain idle without it....” 
Further Forms of Barbed Fences. 
Partly as a matter of curiosity, and especially to 
stimulate further thought and invention, we pre¬ 
sent in numbers 33, 33, and 34, the independent 
suggestions of three of our readers, living remote 
from each other, in different States : Wo 32, is 
engraved from a pattern sent us by H. H. Hagerman, 
of West Windsor, Ohio. Two barbs are formed by 
puncturing out central portions from steel straps, 
every five inches, and bending these portions at 
right angles to the strap on a Iternate sides, as shown 
in the engraving.— Wo, 38, comes from a reader 
in St. Paul, Neb., who withholds his name. It differs 
from No. 33 only in the form and size of the barb, 
which in the pattern is less than an eighth of an 
inch wide, and not quite half an inch long. They 
are 2 inches apart, turned out on opposite sides, 
and the strap twisted when put up. Our corres¬ 
pondent refers us to Purdum & Reed, of Chilli- 
cothe, O., for further particulars.—Wo, 84 is 
from a pattern sent us by Geo. N. Hodgdon, 
Nashua, N. H. This is similar to No. 33 in the 
form of the barb, but the barbs are cut singly every 
3 inches, instead of in pairs every 5 inches. The 
steel strap is galvanized and twisted in putting up. 
While all three of the above (Nos. 32, 33, 34), are 
open to the objection of having cutting barbs, the 
strength of the strap is lessened somewhat in No 
33, and largely so in 32 and 34—fully one-third— 
and the strap would need to be fifty per cent wider 
to secure the same strength. The “ Brinkerhoff 
Improved ” (No. 19), retains the full tensile strength 
of the strap, requires only a small amount of metal 
for the added barbs, and these can be made so 
blunt as not to cut or tear.—The prominent advan¬ 
tage of the strap over the twisted wire is that the 
former is more conspicuous—more readily seen by 
animals approaching it. Several other forms of 
barbs, used on wire, can be much modified in length 
and sharpness without destroying their efficiency. 
W T o. 88.—*■ King’s Thorn-Stay Fence” is one 
of the varieties of barbed fence we have not before 
exhibited. It is the ordinary plain wire fence of 
three strands of No. 9 wire, to which are fastened, 
with staples, a series of inch square wooden strips, 
or “stays,” set inclined as shown in the engraving, 
and placed alternately on both sides of the horizon¬ 
tal wires. The staples pass through the stays, and 
are clinched on the side opposite the wire. The 
wooden stays are also supplied with pointed barbs. 
It is claimed that these wooden pieces render the 
fence visible, support the wires, preventing their 
being spread apart by animals attempting to crowd 
through, and that the barbs thus placed are less 
liable to be seriously injurious. Before the recent 
rise, these stays were supplied at $2.50 per 100. 
Their expense will of course depend upon the dis¬ 
tance apart they are placed. Aside from any ad van 
tage or disadvantage of the barbs, such strips or 
stays, if thoroughly protected from decay, and 
without or with barbs, could be applied along plain 
wire fences already built, and be placed a few inches 
ora few feet apart, as desired. These stays are made 
in Iowa by the Baker Manufacturing Company. 
TTIie Wliite IPine “Weevil. —A few insects are 
of benefit to the plants upon which they feed. Mr. 
A. S. Fuller, one of the editors of the “ American 
Entomologist,” cites the White Pine Weevil (Pis- 
sodes Strobi), as an insect of Undoubted use to the 
trees upon which it makes its home. The grub of 
the weevil perforates and kills the leading shoots of 
young pines and spruces, thus checking the up¬ 
ward growth of the main stem, when the branches 
below bend inward, and grow more vigorously, 
thus causing the tree to assume a better shape than 
it would otherwise—a sort of natural pruning 
which such trees often need but seldom get. Mr. 
Fuller says : “ Since the advent of the Pine Weevil 
on my place many of the Norway Spruces have been 
greatly improved in their appearance by the almost 
annual destruction of the terminal or leading 6hoots, 
and no one would question the benefit of this kind 
of pruning after a glance at the trees, comparing 
the weevil-pruned with those that have escaped. 
I have only to regret that these insects do not visit 
every specimen on my grounds, for it is no easy 
task to get at the leading shoot of a Norway Spruce 
30 or more feet high, and take it out with a knife 
or shears.” When the trees are young, as those 
in nursery rows, the insect may do some damage. 
Simple Plumbing for a Kitchen. 
The engraving herewith illustrates a practical 
method of plumbing for country houses. It is 
quite free from complications, and the several 
parts may be obtained ready fitted, so that with 
pipe-tong and a screw-driver, any mechanic should 
be able to connect and set up the whole in work¬ 
ing order. The cost is small. For the house on 
the next page it is estimated at $40; but may be 
considerably lessened. The annual interest and de¬ 
preciation would not be over $5, while the saving 
of the house-keeper’s strength would be many times 
that sum. A is a “ ship pump,” fastened to the kitch¬ 
en floor, and afterwards enclosed by the wood-work 
fronting the space beneath the sink, so that when 
finished no part is in sight except the handle, which 
extends upward, and is worked with a lateral 
motion through a slot made in the drain-board. 
Other forms of force-pumps may be selected.— B, 
, B, B, 1-inch supply pipes leading from a cistern 
to the pump, and thence 2-inch pipe to the tank. 
6 is a branch from the supply pipe leading to a 
point 10 inches above the sink, where a faucet is 
attached to regulate the flow of water as required. 
The tank, I), having capacity for 3 hogsheads of wa¬ 
ter, is placed in second story immediately above 
the pump. It is of plank, firmly made, and lined 
with sheet lead. A, iron sink, 16 by 24 inches. F, 
waste pipe (11-inch with trap) leading from sink to 
a drain outside. A hogshead might take the place 
Fig. 5.— PLAN OP PLUMBING FOB A KITCHEN, 
of the tank to save expenses, but is less desirable. 
The above very simple, easily constructed and inex* 
