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WIEE FENCE. 
In a late Rural New-Yorker I Bee P. D. 
B. of Clyde, O., asks information concerning 
wire fence. In this countiy wire fences are 
much in use and many styles of structure are 
tried. 1 think the beet plan, all things con- 
t idercd, is as follows :—Sot posts two rods 
apart— for a fence eighty rods in length ; 
brace the two end posts very firmly ; begin 
at one end, reel off your wire-making splices 
as often as may be necessary by twist ing the 
wiies strongly together; wind your wire 
around the beginning post at the right hight 
for the bottom wire ; after you have reeled 
off the whole length, make fast at the other 
end right hight; then reel oil and fasten 
each successive wire until you get the num¬ 
ber of wires you intend to put up ; after you 
get your wires all laid along on the ground 
by your string of posts, one end well fastened 
to corner post at right hight, you go to the 
other end and loose the bottom wire, pull 
tight and wrap around a good handspike ; 
take a pry*against the comer post, draw as 
tight os you can and have an assistant make 
fast to the post at right, hight, and so on with 
oil the wires, to the top. Then proceed to 
the next post, making the wires fast at proper 
higlit and so on to the end of your fence, 
being careful not to drive your staples so 
tightly as to bind the wire except at the end 
posts, in which they should be driven tightly. 
Then you want to put in your tighteners. 
If your ground is level one set of tighteners 
is sufficient for eighty rods ; if hilly it will 
require more. To make the tightener you 
take a piece of wood, 2 by 4, three feet long, 
make a two-inch hole near one end, make a 
pin four or live inched long of hard wood, 
fasten well in the hole—then cut a notch in 
the pin endwise, down to the 2 by 4, wide 
enougli to admit the wire—one of these for 
each wire—put the wire into the notch ; take 
hold of the long end of the tightener and 
wind the wire around the pin until suffi¬ 
ciently tight, then drive a staple across the 
wire in the stick that forms the tightener. 
After your wires are suflieiently tight then 
take common four-foot pickets, 1 by 2)4 
inches, divide by a live and a-hall loot stick 
your two rod panels of wire fence, into six 
spaces, putting live pickets between each two 
posts ; put your Btaples in and your fence is 
complete. The top and bottom staple in your 
picket should be driven close ; the others 
should not bind the wire, else it will not 
work well when you wish to slack your 
tightener for winter or retighteu for warm 
weather. If left tight during winter the 
wire is apt to break. 
For cattle, horses, &o., live wires are am¬ 
ple ; but for sheep seven. I set the posts two 
feel four inches in the ground, the end ones 
about three feet. Be careful to set the 
staples so that both points are not in the 
same grain of the wood, else the post or 
picket is liable to crack and the staple come 
out. We use No. 9 annealed wire ; costs here 
eight ceuts per lb. Iluv season ; staples, L3)$'c, 
'per lb. No. 9 wire weighs about a pound to 
tin: rod and is put up in bundles of t>3 lbs. 
each, 3 put up tins summer 240 rods ; used 18 
bundles wire and 40 lbs. staples. I put mine 
five wires high—the first 1inches from the 
ground and t:ie wires 10)4 inches apart. As 
soon us the fence was done, plowed two fur¬ 
rows deeply on each side the fence, making 
a ridge four furrows wide, raising the earth 
within about four inches of the lower wire. 
N,..w, when I wish to turn sheep to the fence, 
by Inserting two more wires in the two 
lower spaces, it will make a good sheep tcnce. 
Such a fence here costs very little more 
than half what a good boai'd fence would 
cost. 
A very convenient reel is made as follows : 
Take two pieces 2 by G, SO inches long ; halve 
them together ; bore a two-inch hole through 
the center to set on the pivot or post; make 
a post four feet long, cut a shoulder near the 
top end, forming a tenon or pivot on which 
to place the cross ; plant the post at one end 
of the fence to be built, say 18 inches deep; 
put the cross on, lay on it a bundle of wire ; 
then inside of wire bore a hole in each cross 
piece and put in a stake to keep the wire 
from slipping off ; find the end of the wire, 
fasten to w hippie tree, hitch a slow horse 
and start your boy with horse to the other 
end of the fence. As one coil of wire »s ex¬ 
hausted, attack another, and so on to the end 
of the fence. Then to mark off the hight on 
the posts I cut plastering lath about 7 inches 
long and bailed on a piece of boai'd at the 
right hight; set it by the post and marked 
across on the strips of lath. 
I have made this pretty lengthy—perhaps 
too much so, though I have seen the time 
when I should have been very glad to have 
had such instructions. The distance apart 
of posts may eeeui too great, but experience 
proves them amply close when pickets are 
put on as described above. N. Engle. 
Elgin, Mjnn. 
-- 
LIVE FENCE POSTS. 
J. R. Allen, Madison Co., III., writes to 
the Pi’airie Farmer“ I have seen quite a 
Scientific and Useful 
PREPARING WAX FOR MAKING WAX 
FLOWERS. 
The material or wax in its ci'ude state is 
unfit for modeling purposes ; it requires to be 
prepared as follows, that is, if the modeler is 
desirous of preparing Ids own material, 
otherwise it may be purchased ready made 
for use at anv artificial florist’s. 
SUIT 3'’OR GrIRL 7 TO 9 YJGA.RS OLD.—(Rage 127.) 
number of live fence posts growing. If any 
of your numerous readers wish to try it, let 
them get either willow, cottonwood or Lom¬ 
bardy poplar, large enough for post, cut it off 
the right length, space it off the width they 
want the planks apart, take two-inch auger, 
boro two or three holes—to suit t he board for 
six-inch fence plank two holes are enough- 
then chop out the center with a long, narrow 
bit-ax, point the plunk so each end will pass 
into the post, dig the holes, set the posts in 
early spring as soon as the frost is out of the 
ground, taking care not to injure the bark, 
and either of the woods named will grow. 
Get young, thrifty timber} not too largo. 
Cutting holes through the post does not iu- 
jui'e it from growing, and the plank remains 
firm, if not broken, for years, i know of 
posts and rails made in this way that have 
been in use fifty years and good yet; the post 
of willow and the rails of white cedar. The 
center post, if inch-plank is used, will have 
to be bored with inch auger and cut out to 
let the plank slip through. If of poles (or 
good rails are best) then only the ends want 
pointing to pass in the post. 
-- 
ABOUT DRAIN TILE. 
i • 
1, How deep should di'ain tile be laid to 
effect a thorough drainage on loam soil, sur¬ 
face nearly level and no surface water, only 
in a wet time i 2. Where can drain tils be 
bought i 3. What is the cost per foot or rod t 
4. What size tile would I need for main drain, 
5U rods in length ? 5. What size for side 
drains 20 rods in length ?— L. M. w. 
In reply, we would not lay tiles less than 
three feet deep. We cunnot answer where 
tile can be bought, uox- the cost per foot, for 
the cost will depend upon the size and the 
distance they must be transported. For main 
drains, we should.use 2}£ inch tile ; for side 
drain, 1^. In the soil you describe, perhaps 
inch-tube would answer for the area you de¬ 
sire to drain for the side drains and a 2-inch 
tube for the main drain. We should think it 
would. You ought to be able to get the IX 
inch tile and collars at not over 20c. per rod. 
“Procure some of the purest beeswax, and 
having first cut it in pieces, place it in a ves¬ 
sel and dissolve by means of heat. When 
dissolved, add Venice turpentine in the pro¬ 
portion of 2 ozs. to each pound of wax. The 
addition of the turpentine rondel's it of a 
softer nature, ami prevents it from cracking 
in the mold, as it. would be apt to do if used 
otherwise.’’ The modeler can “impart any 
color to the dissolved wax by rubbing to¬ 
gether iu a vessel a small quantity of the 
particular color required, mixed with olive 
oil with a portion of the liquid wax, until it 
gets hard by cooling, when it should be well 
stirred into the body of the dissolved wax.” 
The liquid is strained through muslin to re¬ 
move impurities, and is then fit for use. 
A mold of the fruit, Ac., desired to be 
copied is next required. This is generally 
made from plaster of Paris, and consists of 
two, three, four, and even more separate 
pieces, according to the form and size of the 
fruit to be modeled. It is obtained in this 
way:—First construct a card form, some¬ 
what like a collar box, about one inch or so 
larger than the fruit tq be copied. Then mix 
with water - such a quantity of plaster of 
Parts as will be of a moderate thickness; 
pour just as much of this into the form as 
will allow the fruit, which Luis been previous¬ 
ly olive-oiled, to sink only half way iu the 
plaster. Having allowed some time for it to 
get set, remove the paper and make a few 
holes on and around the edge of the mold. 
Thun scrape the edge quite smooth, and 
re-oil the uncovered part of the fruit edge of 
the mold, replace the form, and pour on the 
fruit as much plaster as will be of an equal 
thickness to the first part of mold. Let this 
also stand for some time, then take fUT the 
paper form and the mold is complete. By 
giving the first half of mold more or less 
“cup-like holes,!’ the second part will receive 
a similar number of projections, which, fit¬ 
ting into the cavities, allow the parts to be 
exactly placed together, and render the mold 
more secure. 
Leaf molds are ldade by giving the leaf 
(which should be first made quite clean, and 
then oiled, and placed face upwards on a 
sheet of paper), first thin, then thicker, coat¬ 
ings of plaster, allowing a little time for the 
first coat to become set before giving it the 
second, andsoou, until the mold has acquired 
the requisite thickness. The face of the leaf 
only should be covered with the plaster. 
Having shown how to obtain the fruit and 
leaf molds, 1 will now describe the method 
of using them. Before doing so, however, 
I wish to observe that no molds should be 
used before they are thoroughly set or hard¬ 
ened, and that preparatory to using the 
mold, it should be placed in hot water for a 
few minutes, and then carefully wiped diy 
with a soft cloth. On casting, take one-half 
of the mold in the left hand and pour in the 
liquid wax so as to nearly fill the hollow ; 
then quickly place on the other part, in such 
a way that the projections of the one fit into 
the cavities of the other part of the mold. 
Hold both parts tightly together, and gently 
turn the mold the hand so that the wax 
may be disposed on the inside evenly. Hav¬ 
ing allowed some little time to elapse, place 
the mold in hot water for about two or three 
minutes, then take it out and separate the 
parts carefully, and remove the fruit as 
gently as possible. Should there be any 
roughness on the fruit, it can be easily re¬ 
moved by rubbing it with a flannel dipped in 
turpentine. 
Wax leaves may be painted green by 
means of Prussian blue, chrome, and burnt 
sienna, and polished, when necessary, by 
means of a soft brush. The stems of fruit 
are made from wire covered with wax of the 
required color. 
The characteristics of both fruit and leaves 
are mostly produced by the comring uud its 
various modes of application; to give rules 
for such would be but waste of time, and 
only tend to mystify (ho reader. Practice 
and study of the works of Nature alone will 
enable the reader to acquire any proficiency 
in this art. I may mention, however, by 
way of a guide, that most fruits require a 
body tint according to the particular color 
required, and that- all colors must dry on the 
wax before any decision can be pronounced 
as to the correctness of tint. If the modeler 
always endeavors to copy Nature in all her 
parts, so that each part wlic?n taken con¬ 
jointly shall resemble the whole, he will not 
only achieve but deserve Success .—English 
Mechanic and World of Science. 
©fy (Barden. 
A NEW VEGETABLE. 
The Gardener’s Chronicle says :—“ In the 
current number of the Journal of Botany, 
Dr. Hauce describes a Chinese Culinary Veg¬ 
etable, consisting of the shoots of a grass, 
Hydropyrum latifolium , wild in Northern 
Cliina and Amoor Land, and cultivated in 
Southern China in Standing water. As 
brought to market the “ cane shoots” occur 
in cylindrical pieces of a white color, 2)4 to 
2X inches long, 1 to IX inch in diameter, 
tapering upwards into a conical point, and 
surmounted by the leaves and culm, from 
which they are readily detached. In taste 
the raw shoot is not unlike a half-ripe nut, 
but it is never eaten uncooked. By the Chi¬ 
nese it is stewed with meat, and by foreign¬ 
ers cut longitudinally into two or three 
pieces, well boiled, and served with melted 
butter. Prepared in this way it is stated ly 
Dr, Hunce lo be one of the most agreeable of 
vegetal lies. “It is difficult,” says the writer 
from whom we quote, “to describe its exact 
flavor, but it is, j crimps, nearer to fiat of 
unripe Maize, us boiled and eaten by Ameri¬ 
cans under tlie name of green corn, though 
it possesses a richness and delicacy to which 
I know no parallel in ally other vegetable.” 
The species in question is nearly allied to the 
American species H. esculcutum, formerly 
growi in this country. There is little doubt 
that the Chinese plant would also thrive iu 
our climate, on which account wo arc glad 
to hear that Dr. Hance intends to send home 
living plants. 
—-- 
GARDENER’S NOTES. 
Manure for Celery .—A correspondent asks 
“ what kind of manure, (except stable ma¬ 
nure w hich is scarce here) is best for celery 
in the trenches. Guano and ground bone have 
been recommended to me.” Celery in the 
market gardens hereabouts is always trench¬ 
ed as a second erop. Where this is practiced, 
with the high manuring for a first crop, no 
additional fertilizers are usually used. Either 
of the fertilizers named may be used, how¬ 
ever, if the soil is very poor. 
Preserving Melons Whole.—1 should like 
to ask if there is any process or mode by 
which melons may be'kept fresh until winter. 
If any of the Rural’s readers have succeeded 
in so preserving them will they not state 
how ?— Gardener. 
