1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
55 
prices are obtained for produce, than we can get 
here, the reasons why farmers can afford to work 
in this way, must be sought in something besides 
their modes of culture, and the cheapness of human 
labor. Good farming land, well located, and nat¬ 
urally rich, rents in some parts of Jersey for £8 to 
£10—say $40 to $50 gold—per acre. Of course, 
much farming land rents at decidedly lower rates, 
but what would American farmers think of pay¬ 
ing such a rent for land, and laying it down to 
grass at that, sometimes ? I saw enough of Euro¬ 
pean farming to make up my mind that it will be 
time enough for us to laugh at their clumsy imple¬ 
ments, and at their slow and “old fogy” ways of 
doing things, when we can point to better results. 
-- 
Building Fences of Prairie Sod, 
However much we may desire to avoid the use of 
fences, and by herd-laws and other means strive to 
avoid their cost and maintenance, we must as yet 
regard them as a necessity. Fences no doubt cost 
money, time, and labor, but so do houses, barns, 
and stables, and yet we consider these as indis¬ 
pensable to the management of a farm, and are al¬ 
ways discussing the best methods of building and 
arranging them. All our discussion leads at last to 
the conclusion that at least the boundary of every 
favm must be protected by fences of some kind. 
Inner fences may well be abolished, except for 
pastures, but there must be some barrier around 
each farm, fit least to mark the boundary, if not to 
prevent trespass. It is not reasonable to expect 
ethers to look after the safety of our property. The 
first duty of a man is to care for his own, and, as 
far as regards his fields and his stock, he can do 
this more easily by means of fences, than in any 
other manner. There is much to be said as to the 
kinds of fences that are likely to be the most eco¬ 
nomical, permanent, and useful. On account of the 
abundance of timber in many localities, we have 
been lavish, not only of fences, but of fence ma- | 
terial, and the costly rail fence, now that timber is 
becoming scarce, can no longer be easily maintained. 
In some newly settled parts of the country, where 
there is no timber, wooden fences are simply out of 
the question, and an immediate substitute must be 
found. A temporary expedient to avoid the build¬ 
ing of fences has been found in the enacting of 
herd-laws, which compel every owner of stock to 
look after his animals, and restrain them. But the 
time will come, when this can no longer be done, 
and there will always remain the difficulty arising 
from a lack of fences on the highways, and the re¬ 
sulting but unavoidable tresspass and damage. 
This must be provided for, and an easy means of 
enclosing the farm is very desirable. We have long 
considered that a fence of the tough prairie-sod, 
built in a cheap manner, might be made to answer 
a temporary purpose at least, until a living fence or 
hedge could be grown, and boundary plantations 
made for shelter and protection. The difficulty in 
this lies chiefly in the cutting of the sod into proper 
lengths, that may be quickly and smoothly built in¬ 
to a wall. We find an excellent suggestion to meet 
this difficulty in a book receutly published, and al¬ 
ready noticed in the American Agriculturist, entitled 
“Nebraska, its Resources, Advantages, and Draw¬ 
backs,” by Mr. E. A. Curley. In reference to fences 
in a prairie country, Mr. Curley considers the sod 
fence as the best temporary resource, until hedges 
may be planted and reared. He suggests a method 
of cutting the sod, by means of a machine, easily 
made from materials always at hand on prairie 
farms, which we illustrate. Figure 1 is a frame, 
similar to a sled, mounted upon side-runners, and 
fitted with a tongue. To this frame an inner one 
is fixed upon pivots, so that it may be lifted, when 
necessary, out of contact with the ground. When 
at rest, this inner frame rests upon the cross-bars 
of the principal frame or sled. The inner frame 
has an axle, upon which four wheel-coulters of or¬ 
dinary breaking-plows are mounted. These are 
placed three feet apart, and arc so arranged that 
they cut the sod three or four inches deep. The 
pressure sufficient to force the coulters through the 
sod is gained by the weight of the driver, who 
stands upon the step, shown in the illustration, at 
the rear of the machine. A guard is made in front 
of the step, to protect the driver, in case of an ac¬ 
cident or sudden stoppage, and prevent him from 
falling upon the coulters. This machine is driven 
across the line of the fence-row, at a distance of 
about 12 feet upon each 
side of the center of the 
fence, thus cutting the 
sod in strips 3 feet wide 
and 24 feet long. To 
make the turning easy, 
handles are provided, 
by which the cutter- 
frame may be lifted 
from the ground. When 
the row has thus been 
all cut into strips, the 
breaking-plow is run up 
on one side of the center 
of the intended fence, 
and a sod 15 inches 
wide thrown over flat, exactly upon the center. 
The plow is then ran down so as to throw a 
second sod upon the first, as shown in the 
center of figure 2. Then the plow is run up 
and down, so as to cut the sod into strips from 15 
to 12 inches wide, gradually decreasing the width 
as the outer edge of the strip is reached. This is 
shown in figure 2. These strips of sod are 3 feet 
long, having been cut into this length by the pre¬ 
vious operation. These are readily thrown by liay 
forks, or dung forks, on to the fence line, where they 
may be rapidly piled up into a wall, as seen at figure 
3. This should be done evenly and well, laying the 
sods so as to break joints. As these fences are apt 
to be heaved with the frost, or distorted by frequent 
freezing and thawing, upon the south side of those 
that run east and west, it will be well to run a few 
furrows, throwing a bank of earth against the fence, 
and leaving a shallow ditch upon each side. This, 
as indicated by the dotted lines in figure 3, 
leaves a strip of mellow soil in which plants for a 
hedge may be set, upon the outside of the fence, 
and a row of trees for shelter maybe planted upon 
the inside. By the time the hedge is fully grown, 
the bank may be allowed to fall into decay, or 
being of no further use, it may be leveled. A 
more substantial fence is shown in figure 4. This 
is made in a similar manner, except that the sods 
are built up in two walls, the space between being 
Fig. 1.— MACHINE FOR CUTTING SOUS. 
filled with earth from the ditches seen upon each 
side. In building this fence, sods are placed cross¬ 
wise here and there, to. keep the outer walls from 
spreading, and the top is capped with sods. This 
fence is calculated for a farm in a low or moist sit¬ 
uation, where drainage is needed, or for a stock- 
farm. The ditch is a perfect protection for the 
fence against horned animals, which would other¬ 
wise damage it by tearing it with their horns ; a 
favorite pastime with the untamed Texan steer, as 
well as with some more civilized cattle. 
The growth of hedges so far, has been very un¬ 
satisfactory. The osage orange, which is the best 
and most available plant, nor in fact any other, will 
thrive under neglect. Five years is ample time in 
which to grow an impassable hedge, if it is well 
managed. It is reasonable to suppose that there 
would be a sufficient demand for the services of a 
capable hedge-grower in every county, who would 
grow hedges by contract for a fixed 6um, and care 
for them annually. Hedges must have at least 
yearly attention, and some require it twice year¬ 
ly 7 , or they will soon fail. Professional hedgers 
ought to be in demand, and until they are, there 
will be no proper hedges, or at least very few of 
them. A farmer had better pay a competent man 
to look after his hedge, than to let it go to ruin for 
want of the care that he will rarely give it himself, 
even should he know how to do this. The misera¬ 
ble failures one sees on every hand, go to prove 
that farmers do not know how, or will not take the 
trouble, to care properly for their hedges after they 
are planted. As the hedge question must inevita¬ 
bly soon become a serious one for farmers every¬ 
where, but especially in the west, it would be a 
wise thing for young men to make the rearing and 
care of hedges a study and a business, and it might 
be a good thing that this study be made a special 
branch in Agricultural Colleges. Meanwhile this 
sod fence will not only be a good protection for the 
farm until a hedge can be grown, but it will fur¬ 
nish needed shelter, both for it and for a plantation 
of young trees, and will also furnish a strip of 
mellow ground upon which they may be planted. 
As this strip must be broken and plowed before a 
hedge can be planted, this necessaiy labor will go 
to reduce the actual cost of the fence, which is less 
than 30 cents a rod-. 
Building Stone Walls. 
An easy method of lifting large stones, when 
building walls or fences, is here illustrated. This 
is now a seasonable work, and much may be done 
TRUCK FOR HANDLING STONE. 
at this time of the year when farm work is not 
pressing. If any walls are to be laid, the work 
should not be delayed, as the spring is now rapidly 
approaching, when labor of more immediate im¬ 
portance must be undertaken. With this method 
