PICTORIAL CULTIVATOR ALMANAC. 
21 
WIRE FENCES. 
Wire fences are attracting much attention in all parts 
of the country. When they have failed, it has usually 
been owing to poor iron or too small wires, in endeavor¬ 
ing to make them cheap. Where stone for walls, or 
timber is scarce, they may prove valuable. Col. Ca- 
1 pron, of Maryland, made two-thirds of a mile in one 
I entire piece, stretching the wires the whole length be- 
| tween two stout main posts, the wires being supported 
I by intermediate posts 8 feet apart. The main or end 
I posts must be firmly braced, as in the above figure. 
1 Col. Capron used No. 5 wire next the road, weighing 
1 one pound to 8 feet, and costing about 70 cents per rod 
1 for 6 wires. He thinks No. 7 wire, weighing one pound 
to 11-| feet, will do for partition fences. Some use No. 
10 wire, which is about 24 feet to the pound, but it is 
liable to become broken, except under unusual circum¬ 
stances. A wire fence, patched with rails and boards, 
as we have often seen, where small wire was used, is not 
a pleasing object. The wire must be annealed. 
The wire passes through the end posts, and may be 
fastened to the intermediate posts by staples, made as 
follows: wind a wire closely round a flat iron bar, pass¬ 
ing from one end to the other; then with a cold chisel 
cut the wire along the middle on both sides, which will 
both flatten and sharpen the newly made points. Gas 
tar will prevent the rusting of the wires, but being so 
black will make them very hot in the sun, and they 
will lengthen and contract more by heat and cold, than 
if painted with yellow ochre. Col. Capron keeps his 
wires always equally stretched, by means of a 150 pound 
weight, acting on a lever at one end. His two-thirds of 
a mile of wires, by expanding and contracting, cause 
this weight to rise and fall about thirty degrees. 
Before using, the wire should be wound on a large 
cylinder, which may be attached to a wheelbarrow. 
The ends are looped together thus, (fig. 2,) or if large, 
Fig. 2. 
by flattening each end, and then binding them together 
with small annealed copper wire. It is tightened in the 
main posts by means of screws passing through the 
posts by turning a nut, (a) 
as in the annexed cut, (fig. 
8;) the wire having been 
drawn tight and keyed in the 
previous post, braced for this 
purpose. Square headed, 
iron bed-screws, may be 
bought cheaply by the do- 
Pl * 3 - zen, and the ring or hook 
welded on by a blacksmith. In making the fence, the 
hands must be protected by thick leather mittens. 
If a ridge is thrown up by two furused, seven wires 
Avill be enough in all rows at bottom, or a bottom board 
cases, at the following distances apart: 4| inches, 4£, 6, 
7, 8, and 9. In secluded or unexposed places, wire 
fences, with small wires, have been made for fifty cents 
per rod; but a good substantial one can not be ihade for 
much less than one dollar per rod, and some have cost 
considerably more. 
GOOD RULES AND GOOD MANAGEMENT. 
One of the best farmers in the State of New-York, has 
the following rules and regulations agreed to and signed 
by every man he hires. 
It is expected that all persons employed on the farm 
of --, will carefully attend to the follow¬ 
ing system: 
Regularity in hours. 
Punctuality in cleaning in putting away implements. 
Humanity to animals. 
Neatness and cleanliness in personal appearance. 
Decency in deportment and conversation. 
Implicit obedience to the proprietor and foreman. 
Ambition to learn and excel in farming. 
No liquor or strong drink of any kind to be allowed. 
MAXIMS OF ORDER AND NEATNESS. 
1. Perform every operation in the proper season. 
2. Perform every operation in the best manner. 
3. Complete every part of an operation as you pro¬ 
ceed. 
4. Finish one job before you begin another. 
- 5. Secure your work and tools in an orderly manner. 
6. Clean every tool when you leave off work. 
7. Return every tool and implement to its place at 
night. 
Experiment with Ashes.—A correspondent of the 
I New-England Farmer, spread “ on a small square of a 
1 few rods,” ten bushels of ashes, on worn-out meadow. 
I “ The grass there was three feet high, while all around, 
I with equal advantages, except ashes, it was hardly five 
I inches high in July.” 
Draining Land. —Many persons mistakenly suppose | 
that it is not necessary to drain land in a dry climate. | 
A want of draining is often the reason that land suffers I 
from drouth. When water-soaked early in the spring, § 
it cannot be well plowed,- or if plowed, it is worked in- 1 
to mud and bakes hard. But if well drained, it may | 
be plowed early and deeply ; and being thus made deep I 
and mellow, it retains moisture through the summer. | 
A crop of oats or barley is some times one-half larger [ 
merely in consequence of being put in a fortnight ear- j 
lier on well drained land, that can be worked at all 
times. . Trying to farm well without draining, is like 
beating up stream against the wind—every thing tends 
to baffle the husbandman. 
Draining on a Large Scale.— Prof. Norton, of 
Yale College, visited a farm in Scotland; the surface 
of the soil was stiff, and the subsoil a close clay. The 
owner had drained 900 acres, with a length of drains 
equal to 300 miles. He had a machine for making tiles 
for his drains, which turned out 400,000 a year. The 
rent of the land was immediately raised by this improve¬ 
ment, from $2.50 to $6.50 per acre. 
Draining in Western New-York. —A field of sev¬ 
eral acres in Cayuga county, was so wet that it scarcely 
produced eight bushels of wheat per year. It never¬ 
theless contained a very fertile soil, but its fertility was i 
locked up and rendered useless by being submerged in 
cold water during an important part of the year. The 
owner run under-drains through every part, and the 
first crop of wheat after the operation, was forty bushels 
per acre. 
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