18 
AMEEIOAJl AGIEICULTUEIST. 
[January, 
Building a Stone Fence. 
A permanent stone fence should he built from four 
to five high, two feet wide at the base and one foot 
at the top, if the kind of stones available allow this 
construction. If a higher fence is desired,the width 
should be correspondingly increased. The surface 
of the soil along the line of the fence should be 
made smooth and as nearly level as possible. The 
hlght will depend upon the situation, the animals, 
the smoothness of the walls (whether sheep can get 
foot-holds to climb over), and the character of the 
ground along each side. If the earth foundation 
be rounded up previously, sloping off to an open 
depression or gully, less bight will be needed. Such 
an elevation will furnish a dry base not heaved by 
frost like a wet one. Without this, or a drain along 
side or under the wall to keep the soil always dry, 
the base must be sunk deeply enough to be proof 
against heavy frosts which will tilt and loosen the 
best laid wall on wet soil. The foundation stones 
should be the largest; smaller stones packed 
between them are necessary to give firmness. The 
mistake is sometimes made of placing all the larger 
stones on the outside of the wall, filling the center 
with small ones. Long hind-stones places at fre¬ 
quent intervals though the wall add greatly to its 
strength. The top of the fence is most secure 
wheu covered with larger, closs-fitting, flat stones. 
The engraving shows a wooden frame and cords 
used as a guide in building a substantial stone 
fence. Two men can work together with mutual 
advantage on opposite sides of the stone wall. 
The Farmer’s Most Active Enemy. 
PROP. S. R. THOMPSON. 
This destroyer of the farmer’s hard earned sav¬ 
ings is on every farm, in every house, and never 
leaves us day or night, summer or winter. It dam¬ 
ages at midnight, and destroys at noonday. The 
marks of its teeth may be seen on the pasture 
fence, it is wasting the barn sills, and pegging 
away at your sulky plow. Even iron and steel are 
not exempt from its ravages. The plow comes in 
from the field bright with use ; next week it needs 
several hours of work and worry to make it scour. 
You lend your new bright handsaw to a neighbor, 
v/ho kindly leaves it lying on the grass a night or 
two, and its condition when returned mars its use¬ 
fulness, and lessens your faith in human nature. 
A careless farmer leaves his new mower in the field, 
or the fence corner until next summer, by which 
time this fell destroyer has damaged it one-third of 
its value. The sections are black with rust, the 
journals are all gummed, and the wood-work is 
penetrated and weakened in every part. 
Those who have read thus far, will have recog¬ 
nized this enemy as rust, rot, or decay, the most 
active promoter of which is oxtgen. This invisi¬ 
ble gas forms one-fifth of the entire bulk of the 
air, and eight-ninths of the weight of all the water 
on the globe. While of the greatest value in the 
economy of life, it is also a destructive agent of the 
most untiring kind. Yet its ravages are easily 
checked in many instances. A thin covering of 
some oil will perfectly protect steel and iron from 
its action. A coat of paint good enough to keep 
water from soaking into wood, will protect it from 
decay almost indefinitely. In the far West, where 
building is somewhat more expensive than in the 
East, farmers are disposed to leave their farm-tools 
out of doors the year round. Such men are mak¬ 
ing a great mistake, ff they are not able to afford 
shelter for their tools, they can buy a gallon of 
paint, which, if carefully applied to the wood-work 
will go a long way towards protecting it from de¬ 
cay. It is certain that if the farmers of any State 
w'ould expend one thousand dollars for paint next 
year for this purpose, they would save ten thousand 
now likely to be utterly lost. If any one thinks 
this overstated, let him look around among his 
neighbors, and see the hundreds and hundreds of 
dollars’worth of machinery that is going to ruin 
from decay, which a little paint would prevent. 
Here at least in the protection of farm implements 
a penny saved is as good as a penny earned. 
Wheat as a Staple Crop in. New England. 
According to the latest definite statistics (the 
last Census), no State exceeded Connecticut in the 
average yield per acre of wheat, except Colorado, 
where the average was twenty-two 
bushels, against nineteen bushels 
in Connecticut and about the same 
inIndiana,Michigan,and Wyoming 
Territory. Ohio came next with 
eighteen, Oregon, Vermont, and 
Illinois followed with seventeen ; 
California and Utah with sixteen ; 
New Hampshire, Maine, Massa¬ 
chusetts match Pensylvannia with 
fifteen; and Rhode Island equals 
New York with fourteen bushels. 
So we have all the New England 
States among the highest sixteen ; 
Connecticut and Vermont among 
the highest eight. Colorado’s 
exceptional large average teaches 
a practlal lesson. It was due no 
doubt to the extensive irrigation 
secured by damming her mountain streams, and 
turning the waters over the dry but rich land. Two 
or three irrigations in addition to the natural rain¬ 
fall secures almost uniformly a remunerative crop. 
Most of the streams of New England are so ap¬ 
propriated to manufacturing that we cannot expect 
to raise wheat largely upon irrigated acres, how¬ 
ever profitable, though multitudes of small streams 
might be turaed to good account. The average 
for the entire six New England States, nearly six¬ 
teen bushels per acre, surpassers that of rye, 
and the grain is worth at least a third more per bush¬ 
el in the local markets. It is manifest that there is 
nothing in the soil or climate to prevent successful 
wheat growing. In the valley of the Connecticut 
River, wheat Is grown to a considerable extent in 
rotation with tobacco. The small tobacco plots of 
one to three acres receive the bulk of the manure 
made on the farm and considerable additions of 
concentrated fertilizers, for years in succession. 
W'heat sown upon such land is almost uniformly 
successful, yielding twenty-five to thirty-five bush¬ 
els to the acre, according to the fertility and fine 
tilth of the soil. One of the few good things that can 
be said of tobacco is that it compels manuring 
highly, and thorough cultivation, to secure a remu¬ 
nerative crop. The manure,the fine tilth, and free¬ 
dom from weeds are just the treatment needed for 
successful wheat growing. The conditions can be 
supplied on most New England farms, and at 
least wheat enough be grown for the family. The 
soil selected should be well drained, and in good 
heart. A wet subsoil, where water is thrown on 
the surface in heavy rains, and there is much freez¬ 
ing and thawing in winter and spring, is death to 
the crop. If the soil is not rich, it must be made 
so, either by turning in green crops, or by 
applying fertilizers. A clover crop turned 
under is one of the best preparations for 
wheat. The seed-bed should be made very fine by 
plowing and harrowing, and part of the manure 
should be kept near the surface to stimulate 
growth before winter sets in. Clean seed, sowing 
while the soil is moist, etc., are important items 
with this crop. With suitable attention to details, 
wheat can be profitably grown in all New England. 
Water Troughs.—Stone and Plank. 
Referring to the stone tank in the November 
American Agriculturist, Mr, T>. Z. Evans, Jr., Ger¬ 
mantown, Pa., sends us a sketch (see engraving 
above) having the sides much inclined outward, 
and less likely to be broken by freezing in cold loca¬ 
tions, whether of stone or wood. He recommends 
having the sides and bottom slightly grooved 
where they are to receive the end pieces, and edges 
of the base. Then before drawing together with 
the iron rods, which have large heads on one end 
and nuts and screws on the other, insert strips of 
good rubber in all the joints. The rubber packing, 
if fitting closely in all its joinings, will make tight 
joints, and last at least a year or two before needing 
renewing. For plank troughs, fit the joints closely 
with saw, plane and chisel, and apply in the joints 
before closing them, thick white lead ground in 
oil, which in a week or two will harden so as to 
prevent any leakage of water from the trough. 
Barn Flooring- 
BY L. D. SNOOK. 
A barn floor needs to be strong to sustain heavy 
loads, with close fitting joints,to prevent grain,etc., 
dropping through. For the driveway, plank of pine. 
Fig. 1.— (END VIEWS.) 
hemlock, or other soft wood is preferable for the 
teams, as oak or other wood gives a less secure 
foothold. They should always be laid crosswise, 
not only to give a better foothold for the team. 
Fig. 2. 
but to distribute the weight of theload over a 
greater number of planks. The supporting joists 
should never be over two feet from center to cen¬ 
ter, better only sixteen or eighteen inches. They 
Fig. 3. 
should be made as level and quite as carefully fit¬ 
ted as for house flooring, and not less than two 
inches thick ; two and a half inches would be better, 
especially along driveways. The width depends first 
Fig. 4. 
upon what is obtainable, and next upon the sea¬ 
soning. If perfectly dry when laid, they may 
be of the full width even if two feet wide, but 
if not thoroughly seasoned eight inhes wide will 
Fig. 5. 
be sufficient. They should be cut a year in ad¬ 
vance and so well seasoned as to shrink but 
little. The simpliest way to make barn floor 
is to tongue and groove the plank as in figure 1; 
LAYING UP A STONE PENCE. 
