1850. THE CULTIVATOE. 145 
galloway ox.—( see p. 146.) 
be done in a few minutes. Wire No. 11 is large 
enough for staples. The staples drive and h< Id 
much better by being flattened at the ends, and the 
durability of posts is much increased by charring 
the ends a few inches above the ground line. I 
think there would be no great difficulty in construct¬ 
ing a machine to make staples as fast as nails can 
be cut, and I hope some machinists will do it. The 
staples should be from f to 1 inch in length—three- 
quarters is best when driven into oak posts, and one 
inch for chestnut or cedar. 
I have been thus minute in this description, in 
compliance with the request of your correspondent 
in the February No. of The Cultivator, and I hope 
if any of your contributors can give further infor¬ 
mation they will let us hear from them. I consider 
the introduction of wire fences, the most important 
improvement in farming that has been made since 
the invention of the cast-iron plow, and that a 
greater amount of iron will be required for fence, 
than for railroads or any other purpose, and thus be¬ 
nefit an important branch of our country’s manufac¬ 
tures. Harry Betts. Brunswick, Bensselaer 
County, N. Y., Feb., 1850. 
Eds. Cultivator —Since my last communication 
to The Cultivator, relating to wire fence 3 I have 
bought 60 pounds No. 10 wire, at 5| cents per lb., 
which confirms the statement I then made regarding 
the price. I think it was manufactured in Fairfield 
County, Ct., and were I to construct a mile of this 
fence in a straight line, I think I would employ but 
two posts, placing one at each end. These posts 
should be set at least 3 feet into the ground, and as 
it is supposed that the posts are much less liable to 
decay when the holes are filled with small or broken 
stones, instead of earth, (see Cultivator for 1-845, 
page 209,) I would adopt this method, raising the 
stones around the post a foot above the surface. A 
strong brace is placed against this post, the foot of 
which is so firmly planted in a hole directly under 
the line of the fence, against a flat stone, or plank, 
that it cannot yield when the wires are strained— 
the hole filled as above. The post is hewn flat on 
the side opposite the brace; small auger holes 
through the brace and post, are made at such dis¬ 
tances as the workman may wish the strands to be 
apart. 
The posts being thus placed at each end and an¬ 
gle of the line, the wire, which comes in a coil of a 
single piece, is introduced by inserting one end of it 
through the brace and post, and coiling it around a 
billet of wood, say 2 inches in diameter by 6 inches 
long, several times in each direction, by twining it 
around the strand between the billet and post in such 
a manner that it cannot roll when the wires are 
strained. The workman now takes the coil of wire 
and proceeds along the line, uncoiling as he walks, 
until he reaches the end of the coil. Another coil 
is now attached, which is done by laying the two 
ends on the ground, passing them some eight or ten 
inches by each other, and crossing them twice at 
about equal distances from the ends, like tying the 
first part of a common hard knot. A billet of wood 
like that at the post, except a few inches shorter, 
is laid on and the ends, brought up over the wood, 
and tied again, and twined around the main wires. 
In this way the workman proceeds, until he reach¬ 
es the other post, at the end or angle of the line, 
through which the wire is passed and drawn up as 
straight as can easily be done by the hands. It is 
there fastened to a billet of wood, as at the first 
post; each strand being thus extended with the same 
degree of tension, or as near as may be. The 
workman now proceeds to set large-sized common 
fence stakes. If the surface is undulating, on 
each eminence and in each hollow, these stakes are 
to be set into holes made with a heavy crowbar, two 
feet deep, and driven down with an axe or beetle, 
and about 15 or 20 feet apart, throughout the line. 
This being done, he again proceeds with hammer 
and nails and saw in hand, and inserts in the stakes 
saw cuts about 1-| in. deep, corresponding exactly 
with the holes and distances on the posts. Into 
these cuts the strands are placed, and a tenpenny 
nail is driven down nearly to the head, across the 
cut, confining the wire to the stake. 
This being done at each stake, no further strain¬ 
ing of the strands is necessary, w T hen the surface is 
sufficiently undulating, but in most cases it will be 
necessary to attach a strainer, by means of a round 
stick, 4 inches in diameter, the same length of post 
above ground, with corresponding holes, and a two 
inch auger-hole near the centre. It is temporarily 
erected near the foot of the brace, the wires passed 
through, before passing through the brace and post, 
