274 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
1846. 
beer and his vinegar. His bedsteads were maple,—his! 
bureaus were maple,—his ox-yokes were maple,—his 1 
sled was maple,—the felloes of his cart-wheels, his cart- 
axle and tongue, were maple.—the wood of his harrow 
was maple,—his roller was maple,—his walking stick 
was maple, and he had a maple weathercock on his 
barn; in short, he was maple all over. 6 If we are not 
in Mapledom now,’ said we, as we looked around, e we 
don’t know where that territory is.’ ” 
SOLAR GAS. 
The editor of the New-York Farmer and Mechanic, 
describes an apparatus which was exhibited and put 
into operation at the late National Fair, for the manu¬ 
facture of what has been called solar gas. The gas, he : 
says, was made from refuse kitchen fat, whale oil, and 
other greasy substances, in a retort 7 inches in diameter, ■ 
affixed to a stove 35 inches wide, 22 inches high, and 
24 inches long. The oil or fat passes through a syphon 
into the retort which is filled with soft pieces of brick; 1 
then through water into a gum elastic bag, and from 
thence through a meter to the burners. A building 
600 feet long, it is stated, was lighted through 60 j 
burners, by this apparatus. The flame is said to emit; 
no smoke or smell. The gas, when properly made, is j 
said to exceed all other kinds for brilliancy, cheapness, j 
and cleanliness. It has already been applied to the ; 
lighting of many factories, several churches, hotels, and 
steamboats. A man is about establishing himself in 
New-York, for the purpose of fitting up apparatus for 
the manufacture of this gas. 
MOVABLE FENCES, 
Every farmer finds it occasionally convenient to 
move the division line between his fields. Improve¬ 
ments are made in the arrangement of hislotsandcrops; 
and briers and weeds, which sometimes obtain posses¬ 
sion under fences, render the cultivation of the ground 
the easiest and best way for their extirpation. Hence, 
a neat, cheap, and substantial movable fence becomes a 
desideratum. 
Many farmers are acquainted with no other movable 
fence than the old-fashioned rail or worm fence, which 
when £i staked and ridered ” usually occupies about one 
rod of untilled ground in width. The broad fence, when 
neatly and substantially made, is very durable; and from 
the ultimate cost, and the little ground it covers, is de¬ 
cidedly cheap, and more especially so from the conside¬ 
ration, that time is not lost in constant repairs, nor 
crops destroyed by the inroads of cattle and pigs, so 
frequent where some other fences exist. But a board 
fence, when once built, must stay where it is—it can¬ 
not be transferred to another line without an expense 
nearly equal to its original cost. 
In the Cultivator for 1844, p. 251, is given a figure 
and description of a neat movable fence, represented in 
the # annexcd figure, made of separate pieces four feel 
n 
H 
Fig. 70. 
high, and eight feet long, driven into the ground 18 
inches, into holes made by the crowbar, and withed 
together at the top. This fence is made of round poles, 
split into halves, and fastened together by wrought 
nails, the ends passing into holes in the sharpened end- 
pieces; and costs from 50 to 60 cents per rod. 
We have constructed a neat movable fence for con¬ 
fining cattle as follows:—Hemlock timber, fourteen 
feet long, and sawed into pieces two by four inches, 
(a, fig. 70,) are morticed into the slender sharpened 
posts b, the two upper bars being 11 inches apart, and the 
lower 8 inches. Holes bored horizontally through the 
tops of the posts, admit the pins, c, and hold the whole 
securely together. To confine pigs or sheep, nail a 
single board at the bottom. Two men will put up ten 
rods of this or the former kind of fence in one hour. 
Another mode which has been found cheap and con¬ 
venient, is the following: Plank is sawed at the saw¬ 
mill, for the end pieces, four feet and a half high, two 
inches thick, and eight inches wide at bottom, and four 
inches at top, as indica¬ 
ted by a, fig. 71, which 
represents a cross section 
of the fence. Into these, 
boards are fitted, the same 
in length and width as in 
common board fence; a 
narrow, mortised inch 
board being slipped on 
__^ to the middle to stiffen 
them. Cross pieces, 6, 
of narrow plank, four 
feet long, are nailed at 
right angles to the bottom of the posts or end pieces, 
and resting on stones, prevent the fence being blown 
over by wind. The addition of a wooden pin through 
these cross pieces into the posts, renders the fence 
stronger. The tops of the posts are connected by the 
horizontal pins c , c. It scarcely ever becomes necessa¬ 
ry to plow nearer to a fence than two feet, hence these 
11 
Fig. 00. 
cross-pieces do not project too far into the fields. This 
fence possesses this advantage,—none of it touches the 
earth, hence very durable wood need not be sought; 
the amount of material it requires is small; and may 
be obtained to order from any saw-mill; the cost 
of erection, according to the statement of an acquaint¬ 
ance who has built a considerable extent, is decidedly 
less than that of common board fence, the digging of 
post holes and setting of posts being entirely obviated. 
Fig. 3, exhibits the appearance of the fence, at a side 
view, when finished. 
INDIAN CORN. 
We have before spoken of the value of Indian corn 
in supporting the animal system, and have alluded to 
the astonishing performances of the Indians while sus¬ 
tained on meal of parched corn, mixed with water. It 
appears from various accounts, that the Mexicans are in 
the habit of using corn in a similar way. It is said that 
after the corn is parched, it will keep sweet a longtime 
in any climate. ThuMAS Falconer, a writer in the 
Agricultural Gazette, states that he travelled in Mexi¬ 
co with a bag of it for many weeks, and he says, if his 
e( supply had lasted it would no doubt have remained 
sweet many weeks longer.” He states that —“ When a 
Mexican undertakes a journey of many days, at a dis¬ 
tance from towns or villages, he fills a bag with the 
flour of this parched corn, mixed up with sugar, and 
sometimes a small quantity of spice. With a bag thus 
filled, tied to his saddle, he considers himself to be well 
