174 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
What are the best Conductors in a 
Sugar Grove? 
To the. Editor of the American Agriculturist : 
I Live on my farm a hill rising some 30 feet or 
more high, not abrupt, hut too steep for passing up 
and down comfortably with a burden. The eleva¬ 
tion and depression and face of the ground are 
such, that by the use of conductors, the sap from 
between 400 and 500 maple trees on it, could be 
conveyed to one point. The trees are very tall, 
thrifty and healthy ; many of them are large, and 
have never been tapped. I, and perhaps many 
others similarly situated, would like some infor¬ 
mation respecting the conveying of the sap in con¬ 
ductors. What is the cheapest, safest and best 
mo’de for preparing the conductors 1 How will 
these conductors be affected by the frost, and 
what effect will evaporation havel I wish 
to get the sugar bush ready for next Spring, and 
want to be sure I am right before I go ahead on 
any plan. Who will respond from practical ex¬ 
perience and observation' E. 
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Good Roads. 
A good road is one of the surest marks of civ¬ 
ilization. In the days of Rome’s greatest glory, 
her influence was everywhere seen in the noble 
roads laid out through all parts of her dominions. 
So now in Continental Europe, and above all in 
England, good roads keep pace with civilization. 
The savage don’t care for roads : he jumps, climbs, 
threads his way with his tribe “ Indian-file,” re¬ 
gardless of convenience, safety or pleasure. One 
of the greatest drawbacks to life in a new coun¬ 
try is its poor roads. We see no reason why 
every community should not feel it their duty, 
their interest, and their pride, to make the best 
possible highways and to keep them in good re¬ 
pair. Would it not save them much time in pas¬ 
sing to and fro ; much wear and tear of harness, 
wagons, and carriages ; much straining of horses, 
much impatience ; would it not promote their own 
respectability, and enhance the value of their real 
estate 1 As canals and rail-roads benefit the por¬ 
tion of a State through which they run, so do 
good roads affect the lands in their neighborhood. 
In order to make a good road, the thing of first 
importance is to give it the right shape for shed¬ 
ding water. If water lies on the track in warm 
weather, it is sure to make it soft, and then, of 
course, to produce ruts, and mud-holes, which 
grow worse and worse with the use of the road. 
If it lies there in Winter, ice is formed from the 
top to the foundation, and when it breaks up in 
the Spring, the road becomes like a quaking bog. 
It is plain that the track should be made of con¬ 
vex shape, sloping from the middle gently to the 
sides. This track should be not less than twenty 
four feet wide, witli a gutter on each side, about 
one-foot deep. 
And yet, the very common practice of plowing 
the gutters and sides of the road, every year, and 
scraping the top-soil into the middle of the track 
in order “ to turnpike it,” is quite objectionable. 
That soft, mucky soil, enriched as it is by the 
wash of the road-track, is much more suitable for 
fertilizing gardens or mixing in the compost heap, 
than for making solid turnpikes. It would be 
economy for the neighboring farmers and garden¬ 
ers to cart off this good soil, and replace it with 
as much gravel or hard subsoil. After the road 
has been put into the right shape, the track may 
well have a layer of small cobble-stones or pound¬ 
ed rocks for a foundation, and this should be cov¬ 
ered with gravel. In order to make sure of car¬ 
rying off all water from the foundation of the 
track, it is sometimes recommended to dig a 
drain lengthwise of the road, under the middle of 
the track, and place large drain-pipe at the bot¬ 
tom. The ditch may then be filled up with small 
cobble-stones. Such a road, we think, would al¬ 
ways be dry and firm. 
One great defect in many roads is the imper¬ 
fect manner in which sluice-ways are made across 
the track. If made of good plank, they will last 
a few years, but stone well laid, are much better. 
Their foundation should be proof against frost. 
We need not say that to have a good road, it 
should be taken care of, after it is made. When¬ 
ever ruts or holes begin to appear, they should at 
once be filled with gravel, or pounded stone, or 
hard soil. 
Making Fence-Posts Durable- 
All posts will rot, sooner or later, and no method 
will put off the period of decay very long. Yet 
something can be done. Charring the lower end 
before setting it, is not labor lost, although it 
must be remembered that the charring process 
often cracks the timber, and so allows the mois¬ 
ture to penetrate the post and thus induce decay. 
Boring small holes near the ground, and filling 
them with salt once a year, is sometimes recom¬ 
mended. Perhaps the salt thus introduced, and 
diffused through the wood, may retard decay, but 
we can not, from theory or observation, vouch for 
such results. Coating the lower end and six 
inches above the ground with coal-gas tar answers 
a good purpose, and is, we think, the cheapest 
and most effectual. 
A correspondent suggests soaking the lower- 
ends in a solution of blue vitriol, (sulphate of 
copper)—all that will dissolve in water—and 
says that this has been used with success on 
shingles, spouts, bean-poles, and wood in other 
forms exposed to the weather. We do not un¬ 
derstand the chemical action of such a fluid, but it 
may be good for fence-posts for aught we know. 
-«*»-* <g> C E~i '■ >—Gs~ -- 
Written for the American Agriculturist.—Prize Articles. 
Farm Fencing.V. 
Next to the stone wall, the best and cheapest 
enclosures in a well-wooded country, are the post- 
and-rail fence, and the zig-zag, worm or Virginia 
rail fences, and in the adoption of either of these, 
the farmer must be governed somewhat by his 
own taste and means of expenditure, but usually 
more by the supply of the right kinds of timber at 
command, and the price at which it may be ob¬ 
tained. 
Fence posts may be either split with the ax 
or sawed in a mill. The kind of timber and the 
straightness of its grain, will determine the 
method of making them, where both modes are 
available. The most durable woods for these— 
and they should be of durable timber for setting 
in the ground—are, in the Northern States, red 
cedar, yellow locust, white oak, chestnut, red 
beach, white cedar, and pine. To these, may be 
added, in the Western States, black walnut and 
over-cup, or swamp white oak ; and in the South¬ 
ern States, the cypress, and pitch or yellow pine, 
with perhaps, another wood or two of local celeb¬ 
rity for such purposes. The proper shape for a 
good sawed fence post is square, at the bottom, 
and tapering on one side to a thickness of not 
exceeding two inches at the top end ; the width 
of the post at the top being the same as the 
width of the sides at the bottom. 
In this shape the front of the post shows a full 
width of face to the rail when inserted in it, or to 
the board when nailed upon it, yet has a lighter 
top, better enabling it to stand upright, as well as 
saving much material in cutting at the mill. 
The proper size for a fence post is eight feet 
long and six to eight inches square at the butt, 
depending upon the weight, hight and strength of 
the fence attached to it above ground. For a solid, 
lasting farm fence, we would have the posts not 
less than seven inches square at the butt, nor 
should they exceed eight inches, supposing the 
fence to be, at the top rail, five feet high. In a 
heavy, clayey soil, seven inches will do; in a 
light loam or gravel, eight inches is better. They 
should stand quite two-and-a-half feet in the 
ground—three feet is better—both to give them 
a firm footing against leaning by action of 
heavy winds and heaving out by the frosts. As 
to the manner of setting the posts, whether the 
holes be dug with a post augur or spade, it mat¬ 
ters but little. In stony soils the spade must be 
used, and a spade hole is better than an augur 
hole, as it gives more room to fasten the post 
firmly in while setting. At all events, the 
posts must be set firmly , in order to maintain a 
solid and lasting fence. 
We have spoken of durable timber for posts ; 
yet much in durability will depend on the proper 
preparation of the posts before setting them in 
the ground. The season of cutting the timber in 
the woods may be a question with some. Yet, 
the best season for cutting timber, as affecting 
its durability, is an unsettled question, and after 
years of investigation, the writer has been unable 
to decide which is the most preferable : whether 
Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn. We think 
more depends on the treatment of the wood after 
it is cut, and before it is set in the ground, than 
on the season in which it is cut. That it should 
be thoroughly seasoned before setting, there can be 
no question. Then, charring the foot and sides of 
the post so as to effectually close the pores of the 
wood to external influences, is a great advantage. 
Or, the same effect may perhaps be given by a 
coat of gas or common tar, or thick oil paint. It 
is said, also, that a deposit of a gill of fine salt 
plugged into an augur hole in the post below 
ground, is a sure preserver against rot. In fact, 
there are abundant recipes for preserving fence 
posts underground ; but many of them are mere 
nostrums, while others are too expensive and 
troublesome to be of any use. But we know that 
thorough seasoning is effective. We know, also, 
that charring and tar are effective in their preserv¬ 
ing influences ; and a green post, fresh from the 
woods, or the saw-mill, we would never set. 
’They will not last half the time of a well-seasoned 
one. 
We have seen much discussion of the superior 
durability of posts planted top-end down, from 
the fact that the capillary attraction of the pores 
of the wood when standing butt-end down, draws 
the moisture from the ground up through the 
whole length of the wood, thereby causing decay 
much sooner than if turned top-end down, in 
which way the capillary attraction can not act 
This may be measurably true with green timber, 
but when the wood is thoroughly seasoned, the 
pores become contracted, and incapable of action 
to any extent; but when, in addition, the whole 
surface of the wood in contact with the ground, is 
charred, or coated with tar, or paint, the “ capil¬ 
lary attraction ” must be quite, or next to nothing. 
Thus prepared, we would pay no attention to 
which end of the growing wood is set in the 
ground. 
We have spoken thus far only of sawed posts. 
We are aware that a majority of our farm fences 
are needed where it is either quite expensive or 
impossible to get sawed posts at all; therefore, 
they must be split. The shape and goodness of 
