222 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[June, 
Fencing and! Fencea 
It is entirely impracticable to answer the irmlti- 
tude of individual inquiries for specifications, cost 
of a particular kind and amount of fence, etc., etc. 
We do not deaf in or supply any kind of fencing or 
materials. Nor can we report upon the various 
models and descriptions, often not very clear to be 
understood, that ase submitted for an opinion. All 
received are examined as we have time, and ans¬ 
wered if considered important. At least nine- 
tenths of all tlie plans, models, etc., of fence posts 
received, are too complicated and too expensive 
for general use in farm fencing. Posts that will cost 
50 cents and upward, each, will not answer, nor will 
those requiring much digging and “ planting.” As 
the cost of iron and steel suddenly jumped up 100 
per cent, we nearly dropped the hunt after metallic 
frosts for a time, though they are very desirable on 
account of their - permanence, their non-destrncti- 
bility by fire on the prairies and elsewhere, and their 
easy setting and their firmness when well set. The 
price of iron having declined greatly during two 
months past, we resume the subject of 
cement and coarse sand, or sand and gravel, or even 
a sandy loam. It will speedily harden firmly into 
the soil and strongly support the post. A barrel of 
the hydraulic lime will suffice for a very large 
number of posts, and cost about one cent each- 
depending upon the amount required by the nature 
of soil, size of post, strength of fence desired, and 
the kind of gravel or sand or cobble stones avail¬ 
able for mixing with the cement. With gravel or 
cobble stones a pint of cement may answer in a 
compact soil requiring only a small collar. If the 
average be a quart, the cost would be from 1 to 2 
cents per post, allowing the cement to cost $1.25 to 
$2.50 per barrel, according to the locality and freight 
expense. The present N. Y. wholesale price of 
common Rosendale Cement is $1.10 per barrel. The 
grouting can be mixed in a half-barrel or box on 
a wheelbarrow or wagon, and be rapidly shoveled 
in. It hardens in a brief time after mixing with 
water. Such collars will prevent rusting of iron or 
decay of wood at the ground surface where this is 
most likely to occur.—Probably a man could make 
the holes, drive the rods or posts, and put in the 
grouting cf at least 100 posts in a single' day’s work. 
at the points where the wires pass, and fas¬ 
tening them with a binding wire twisted on. 
With the cement collar, probably Much rods will 
answer for ordinary fence, or better, Much. The 
size of the ring, and the depth of the base in the 
ground, will depend entirely upon the firmness of 
Fig. 32. Fig. 33. 
Fence Poets. 
Supporting Iron Posts.—A Suggestion that 
may Materially Aid in Solving the Me¬ 
tallic Post Question. 
In the forms and plans for iron Fence posts, a 
great deal of ingenuity and expense is devoted to 
supporting the post firmly in the ground. A simple 
iron rod or bar, five-eighths to three-fourths inch in 
diameter, would suffice for most fence posts, if it 
would stand firmly in the soil. So would a wooden 
post 24 inches in diameter, if of a tough, durable 
kind; and such posts can easily be driven, if 
sharpened. If the soil has any degree of compact¬ 
ness at 15 to 30 inches below the surface, the 
bottom of a very small post or rod will stand firmly 
enough; the trouble is at the surface. Unless the 
ground be very hard these small rods or posts will 
h way,and the various devices of collars, flanges,etc., 
are designed to prevent this. It occurs to us that 
a very simple method may be adopted thus : The 
places of the posts being marked out, take a sharp, 
narrow spade, fiat, or curved like a tile-drain spade 
or scoop, cut out a surface hole, square or round, 
or triangular, 4 th 7 inches in diameter, and 5 to 10 
inches deep, according to the compactness or loose¬ 
ness of the surface soil. If the soil is very loo^e, 
like a light prairie, this hole 
will be all the better if made 
by driving down with a 
sledge hammer or beetle,and 
withdrawing it, a piece of 
hard-wood (fig. 29 or fig. 30) 
with a somewhat bluntpoint, 
Mg. 29. Fig. 30. and large enough to make 
the hole of the size desired. 
This will pack the earth firmly on all sides. Then 
in the center of these openings drive down the iron 
rod posts, or the small wooden ones, as deeply as 
may be needed, and complete the fence, with the 
spaces around the posts at the ground surface left 
open, as in figures 31 .—A and B show round and 
square openings made with a spade. C and D show 
the openings made by driving the blocks shown in 
figs. 29, 30; E and F show similar openings for 
small wooden posts. — Finally, fill these open¬ 
ings with a grouting, or mortar, made of hydraulic 
If it be objected that posts thus set will heave by 
frost, we think this no more likely than when set 
in the soil unprotected. The cement will rise and 
sink with the rest of the soil. For iron rods, per¬ 
haps— and we only throw it out suggestively—the 
holes might be dug, wooden pins, the merest trifle 
larger than the rods, be set in, the concrete poured 
around, and the pins be drawn out just when the 
grouting sets, but is not hard enough to prevent 
their withdrawal. A smooth hole will thus be left 
to drive the rod through. If the cement stands half 
an inch above the surface to shed off water, and 
the soil be dry below, so that water will not collect 
and freeze the rod to it, the cement collar will rise 
atid settle during freezing and thawing, without 
moving the rod. 
Perhaps the above original suggestions may go 
a good way toward settling the metal fence post 
question.* The cement can be used with any form 
of posts already devised. Round rods five-eighths 
inch in diameter weigh about one p«und to the 
foot, and those three-fourths inch not quite 11 lbs. 
per foot. At 3 cents per pound, a 64 feet, 4 inch, 
round bar, weighing 91 lbs. will cost 234 cents ; 
cement say 14 cents; total, 30 cents. For a five- 
eighths inch bar, 6s feet long, 64 lbs., 21 to 22cents, 
cement included. Any form of bar may be used. 
A flat bar 61 feet long, 1 Inch wide, half-inch thick, 
weighs nearly 10 lbs., which, at 3 cents per pound, 
and 1 cent for cement, would cost 30 to 31 cents 
per post. If three-eighths inch thick, the weight 
will be about 74 lbs., costing 24 cents, including 14 
cents for cement. 
Very small Cedar or Locust posts, or of other 
tough durable wood, can usually be obtained 
cheaply—as the freight will be light—in many places 
at 6 or 8 cents each, and one or two cents worth of 
cement, used as above, will support them firmly. 
When iron falls to about 2 cents a pound, as it is 
likely to, we can get effective flat or round bar 
posts, cement included, for 15 to 20 cents each. 
Figs. JJ!£, itli. — R. H. Mong, of Delaware Co., 
Iud., sends us sketches of several forms of posts, 
from which we select the following two : Figure 32 
shows a bar of round iron, 4 or 4 inch in diameter. 
The lower end is bent at right angles to form an 
imperfect ring, say 4 inches in diameter, which will 
lie flat upon the bottom of a hole, dug, or better 
bored with a post auger. A flat stone is laid upon 
this ring or base, and the earth packed in firmly, 
using small stones or gravel if accessible. A small 
bar, however strongly anchored at the bottom, will 
not be held firmly by the ordinary surface soil. Un¬ 
less small stones are at hand to paek around it, 
hydraulic cement, described elsewhere, or some 
other support, will be necessary. The running 
wires can be attached to the upright bar by 
notches, filed or struck in with a cold chisel 
*N. B.—The above described methods seem to be so 
valuable, that we have applied for Letters Patent, to pre¬ 
vent any other parties from taking out patents, as we 
understand they would have power to do, if not fore¬ 
stalled— and thus prevent their nee by our readers. 
the soil. In compact soil, with cement collar, one 
foot deep may answer. Allowing two feet for the 
ground portion, including the ring, and 41 feet 
above ground, 64 feet of bar will be needed. This 
will weigh, for 4-inch diameter, about 94 lbs., tfnd 
for 4-inch, about 64 lbs. At 3 cents per lb., the 
4-inch rod, 64 feet long, would cost about 284 cents, 
and the i- inch for 204 cents_Figure 33 has the 
same underground base, but its upper end is bent 
at right angles to pass through an auger hole in a 
wooden piece 2 inches square or larger. It is fast¬ 
ened to the ground bar with two staples as shown. 
This is cheaper than the all iron post,but the wooden 
bar will of course decay in time, unless specially 
prepared, and it will not be fire-proof. (The artist 
erred in showing the wood part in the ground; it is 
to be kept entirely above the surface). 
No. 34.— Herr Peter Werner, of Worthington, 
Iowa, sends a sketch, and 
suggests that iron rods, 
sharpened at the lower end, 
may be bent readily into the 
form of a screw, as 6hown 
in M, or any shape de¬ 
sired, and worked into the 
soil by turning them, which 
may be done with a black¬ 
smith’s tongs, or large 
wrench. The upper end 
may be bent like 0 in the 
engraving, and an iron rod 
put in to turn them into 
the soil. The coils standing 
transversely will strongly 
No. 34. support the portion above 
ground. Such posts may be of round iron rods, 31, 
or flattened bars, JV, and these may be of any de¬ 
sired size, strength, and weight. 
Nos. 35, 3<J.—C. D. Roberts of Sherman, Wyo¬ 
ming Territory, sends us a description of a fence 
considerably used with and without wire for Cattle 
Ranches, especially when small trees or poles are 
plentiful, but heavier timber for posts and boards 
scarce. Mr. R. says, “ it turns the wildest cattle, 
and holds the smallest lamb.” It is also portable, 
and can be taken down and moved if desired. The 
base, fig. 35, is the split half of a larger polo or 
small log, of any desired length, in which two auger 
holes are bored near the middle, a little distance 
apart. Into these, two upright poles say 2 Inches in 
diameter are set. The small poles for the running 
