1848. 
125 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Economical Fences. 
The following is a description of a kind • of fences 
which I have tried considerably:—For posts I use 1| 
inch oak or hemlock plank, 2 inches wide at top. and 
18 inches wide at bottom; 4 feet long, and set on 2 
stones on top of the ground. It is 5 boards high. 3 of 
the boards being 6 inches, and 2 of them 5 inches wide, 
with a 5-inch board for a cap. The fence is straight? 
with half the posts on each n n 
side, thus breaking joints_ il | H 
on each post. The boards 7[ ’ ~jj j 
may be 12 or 14 feet long. 
The fence has thus a base of 3 feet and an inch—the 
posts slanting and bracing in towards the top, which 
allows the plow to run close to them, and not inter¬ 
fere with the whiffle-trees. The fence will last as long 
as the boards, as every part is above ground. For 
fear of heavy pressure by unruly cattle, or the danger 
of being moved by high winds, I drive down, close to 
the slanting side of each post, a thin stake of oak, 
about one foot into the ground, and put a nail through 
it into the edge of the post, which makes it firm and 
secure. I put a two inch bat in front of each post, of 
inch board, which holds the boards from warping better 
than the nails alone. I make this kind of fence porta¬ 
ble by using one post at one end, and one in the middle 
on the opposite side of a length, and on the other end 
a three inch strip of board, instead of a post, with two 
holes corresponding with two holes in the wide post, on 
the first end of the next length, in which I put two 
pins connecting the lengths, and thus proceed. With 
this portable fence I enclose my stacks, confine my pigs 
on a small portion of my pea-ground, fallow, &c. I con¬ 
sider the economy of this fence such that I would not 
receive posts as a gift, and be under obligations to set 
them in the ground the usual way. I buy 1^ inch 
plank, 20 inches wide, 12 feet long. Each plank is 
made into six posts by my wood saw running by horse¬ 
power. My bats are sawed by the same. I cut the 
plank for posts thus:— 
Clyde, Wayne Co., N 
Milking. 
A writer in the Maine Farmer gives, from long ex¬ 
perience, a number of rules for milking, most of which 
are very good, as—pare your nails short—sit on a stool 
—milk fast—never scold a cow—never get out of pa¬ 
tience—tie her tail to her leg in fly-time, &c. But the 
following are objectionable: “ wet the teats with the 
first stream of milk”—and 11 never strike a cow for 
running or kicking.” Milk, applied to the teats to 
soften them, dries and forms a glossy varnish, which 
tends to cause cracking or chapping of these parts. 
Cold water is much better, becoming quite dry by the 
time the milking is finished, and leaving the teats clean 
and soft. Touching the striking of a cow—the rule 
applies well to ninety-nine cases in a hundred as now 
practiced—but judicious punishment will cure a cow 
amazingly quick. I speak from long experience. If 
a cow kicks much, place a switch under the left arm, 
the pail in the left hand, and if, while milking, she 
kicks, let it be followed invariably by a single blow. 
Never strike but once at a time, even if she kicks so 
hard as to break your leg—and never omit it, if she 
hits nothing. Soothe her at all other times. In this 
way she soon finds what the whip means, and shapes 
her conduct accordingly. A small mess of pleasant 
food at the time, will serve to do away any disagreea¬ 
ble impression in connexion with milking. By never 
striking but once, she has not time to “ get mad,” and 
it is all the more terrific, for who cares for a blow while 
stimulated by fury? 
I have found some “ hard cases” to deal with, but 
completely cured them all with a single exception. 
There was one old cow, so terrific in the blows she 
dealt out, that none dare attempt her with a pail, till 
her legs had been strongly secured, which was done 
with great difficulty. She never kicked, after I had 
given her the second milking, in the way I have just 
stated, but became perfectly mild, quiet, and gentle, 
having doubtless been made vicious by bad manage¬ 
ment. The case which I could not cure was a large, 
uncommonly knowing cow, who was wise enough never 
to kick when I milked her, consequently I could not 
apply the remedy, but was savage enough to other 
milkers. With regard to cows running about,—I once 
knew a cow quite troublesome in this particular, usu¬ 
ally upsetting the pail of milk, before commencing a 
race. The boys chased her round the pasture till they 
cornered her, and then lashed her vigorously. As a 
consequence, she took care not to be cornered next 
time, and hence became intractable in the extreme. 
To cure her, she was placed in a moderate-sized yard, 
and driven gently into a corner. When she ran, the 
whip was applied, but with only one blow at a time, 
till she regained the old corner, where every means 
was used to quiet her. In this way she soon found an 
intimate connexion between whipping and running, and 
that comfort consisted in sticking to her post. On the 
third day she was handed over to the care of the hired 
man, and ever after was a quiet cow. 
It is almost needless to add that this mode of treat¬ 
ment requires perfect calmness, patience, and self-pos¬ 
session. When you feel passion or fear, the animal 
soon discovers it, and she feels no longer the influence 
of a superior being. Therefore those who cannot carry 
out the system properly, had better not try it. 
An Old Milker. 
Shallow Flowing and Surface Manuring. 
We make the following extract from a letter from a 
Maryland subscriber:—If you looked at the Farmer, 
you saw I got the first premium for wheat and corn— 
Wheat 41 bushels per acre—Corn 63 bush, per acre—* 
and for plowing, at our cattle show in 1847. I had 
taken some pains to prepare the lot for the wheat, and 
as I stand nearly alone on shoal plowing, I was the 
more particular. I prepared a part of the lot withSin- 
clair’s 3-mould plows, and the common drag harrow, 
and have never seen as good White wheat in the winter, 
during my farming; and nearly every one that has seen 
the wheat, which I have growing from 22 bush, seed, 
has pronounced that they hardly ever saw as good in 
the winter; few crops look well in our part of the 
country; I have seen but^2 or 3 in my travels. I am 
well satisfied, if surface manuring is true, which I think 
will not be denied, that to keep the richest portions of 
your earth nearest the surface, must be the true inter¬ 
est of every farmer. I find that all men who give their 
manure to the top of the land, when in grass, will not 
hesitate a moment to say that they prefer the plan of 
putting their manure on top ;. that is to say on grass 
the year before they cultivate, or on the land after they 
have broken it up in the spring for corn, or as a top¬ 
dressing on wheat, after seeding; all of which must be 
rotted manure, except for corn, or there will not be the 
same benefit. 
In the year 1834 or 1835,1 ordered my driver to take 
to my corn lands, manure ten with rotted manure be¬ 
fore plowing, and ten after planting; also ten with un¬ 
rotted before plowing, and ten after, and alternate 
them, to see which would produce most corn—land 
equally good. After the corn got thjreo feet high, I 
