HORIZONTAL PLOWING. 
255 
■upon the surface to rot. But it is found that this 
system of shading the ground with straw, is more 
beneficial than a good dressing of manure without 
shade, (a) 
In summer, the stock are all grazed upon the 
appropriate parts of the place, under charge of a 
herdsman, much cheaper than they could be by a 
vexatious system of cross fences. 
Mr. B. has 4,000 acres of timber land, which he 
offers for sale at the very low price of $20 per acre. 
The timber, so near such a navigable river, would 
more than clear the land, and then the soil would 
be as good as that which he has in cultivation. 
The farm, including, say 500 acres of timber, is 
valued at about $40 per acre, . . $132,000 
180 negroes, at $300 average, each, . 54,000 
125 head of cattle, at $10, . . 1,250 
150 sheep, at $3, .... 450 
140 hogs,.500 
40 horses and mules, $60, . . 2,400 
6 ox carts, 3 tumbrils, 8 wagons, 2 
log do., . . . . . 1,000 
13 plows, at $15, . . . . 195 
Other tools,.1,500 
$193,295 
The simple interest upon all this, at 7 per cent., 
would produce the snug little annual income of 
$13,530.65. But the sales amounted to $17,300, 
for corn and wheat last year, $3,870 more than 
simple interest, from which, however, the current 
expenses must be deducted. The amount of these, 
I have not now on hand. Mr. B.’s people are 
all well fed and clothed, and have excellent houses, 
which, unlike the more southern fashion, are all 
scattered over the place—a plan that is, in some 
respects, preferable to that of congregating them in 
villages. 
Many of the roads through the place are lined 
with red cedars, which make beautiful drives, and 
fine shades for man and beast, and add greatly to 
the beauty of the scene. The whole farm can be 
viewed from the observatory, on the barn, and 
including the river and opposite shore, covered 
with forest and underlaid with immense beds of 
shell marl, with Jamestown Island in the distance, 
it presents a scene of surpassing beauty. One of 
the curiosities of this old farm, is a box hedge, some 
ten or twelve rods long, twenty feet high, and very 
thick, which has exhibited the same appearance for 
the last hundred years. Solon Robinson. 
(a) This system of shading the ground, is called 
“ Gurneyism,” a notice of which is given at p. 203, 
of our fifth volume. 
HORIZONTAL PLOWING. 
Side hills ought always to be plowed with a 
horizontal furrow , instead of running it up and 
down, or slanting it towards the bottom of the hill 
with too great an inclination. This will sometimes 
require considerable skill to preserve a nearly 
horizontal position, when the hills are thrown to¬ 
gether in all directions, and are short. But with 
care, it can at all times be accomplished, with the 
use of a spirit level, or a plumb and square. The 
furrows are made to circle around the hill and fol¬ 
low them in any direction, however short or crook¬ 
ed, it may b-s necessary to make them. In many 
portions of the southern states, the heavy rains fall¬ 
ing upon lands inclined to wash, have worn away 
nearly all the soil, and left barrenness and deso¬ 
lation where fertility before existed. A.n inclina¬ 
tion of one foot in ten or twelve, is sufficient to 
lead off the water. This inclination is essential, 
as if made entirely level, the water would break 
over and force its own way down the hill, gullying 
equally bad, as if allowed to follow each of the 
furrows in this direction. 
COL. CAPRON’S IMPROVED WIRE FENCE. 
A very valuable improvement in the mode of 
constructing wire fence has lately been made and 
carried into practice by Col. H. Gapron, of Laurel 
Factory, Maryland. The following description is 
from his own pen, as published in the “ American 
Farmerbut all who are desirous of erecting 
such fence, I think it would be well worth their 
attention to make him a visit, which would be much 
more satisfactory than anything that could be writ¬ 
ten by him or me :— 
The fence I have constructed is for an outside 
fence, to protect against all kinds of half-starved 
quadrupeds, long-nosed, hungry hogs, by hundreds, 
included. 
For a division fence, where it is only required 
to fence againt horse, cattle, and sheep, a much 
simpler and cheaper fence may be made, and 
one more easily moved. For this purpose, the 
bottom board and strips may be dispensed with. 
I have put the permanent iron posts 150 feet 
apart. I think the distance should be from 75 to 
100 feet, -which would add a trifle to the expense, 
and make a more substantial, durable, and beauti¬ 
ful fence. 
I have used No. 5 wire, as I wanted it for hard 
usage. No. 7 wire will answer quite as well, in 
most places, and cost less per running foot. The 
wire which I used was made to order, at the tele¬ 
graph-wire factory, and in coils of 1,000 feet in 
length—cost 8 £ cent per pound. Good No. 5 wire 
can be purchased for 5k cents per pound, in lengths 
of about 50 feet. This would require to be 
joined, -which, I think, can be better done than at 
the factory; as, in the joints made at the factory, 
the wire is twisted too short, more for looks than 
strength, and breaks easily at these points. 
The accompanying sketch will give you an idea 
of the manner of constructing this fence. 
In the framework 2?, c, is a wooden cylinder, (in 
this case, part of an old mill shaft,) about 28 in¬ 
ches in circumference, three feet long, suspended 
in the wooden frame by gudgeons of 1 |-inch round 
iron, driven into the ends, and secured by a band 
sunk into the wood, to prevent splitting, and 
wedged. 2 ), is a strong oak lever, eight feet long, 
three by six. E , is a granite stone, -weight of 
about 150 pounds, with an iron strap over the 
lever, to slide up and down, as required, to give 
the proper tension to the wires, which also raises 
and falls, to accommodate the contraction and ex¬ 
pansion of the wires. G, is a bar of iron, I 5 inches 
square, drilled out to match the holes in the iron 
posts. G, G, G, G, G, G, are iron hooks, of \~ 
inch iron, running through the bar F , and spiral 
springs 22, 22, H. 22, 22, 22, and secured by nuts, as 
represented in the cut. This is for equalizing the 
tension of the wires. These spiral sDrinsrs may be 
