106 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
more of this commodity, upon three acres, than he had had upon his 
farm in the preceding 38 years. 
4. The same number of the Register contains a letter from N. 
Burwell, to the editor, accompanied by a root bearing apparently 
wheat and chess. 
5. In the same work for November last, we find a letter from G. 
W. Featherstonhaugh, stating that he had in his possession, a plant 
containing four stalks and heads of chess, with the skin of a kernel 
of wheat, so attached to the root, as to satisfy him and others, and 
among others, the late President Madison, who examined it, that 
in this particular instance a kernel of wheat had produced a plant 
bearing heads of cheat. 
It is needless to multiply facts of this kind, hundreds of which 
might be quoted; and yet we are aware that they are not all per¬ 
mitted to outweigh the authority of a well settled principle of na¬ 
tural law. With these remarks we must leave the mooted point 
where we found it,—involved with difficulty on both sides. 
STONE FENCES. 
Where stones abound upon a farm, and require to be taken off the 
fields to facilitate tillage, it is no doubt economical to work them in¬ 
to stone fences, and the sooner the better, as by it an incumbrance 
is removed, and a substantial fence erected. The economy of 
making stone fences in other cases, will depend on the scarcity, or 
price, of other materials for dead fences, on the facility of making 
live ones, and on the comparative cost of quarrying or drawing the 
stone. These circumstances will vary on almost every farm, and 
must become matters of individual calculation. But all experience 
teaches, that where stone walls are to be made, there is economy, 
in the long run, in making them well, that is, in making them so 
that they shall prove an efficient barrier to farm stock, and outlast 
the maker of them. If they are not efficient and durable, they be¬ 
come a source of incalculable trouble and expense. The damage 
to crops, and the expense of frequent repairs, to say nothing of their 
unsightly appearance, will soon overbalance the cost of building 
them well in the outset. “ What you do, do well,” is a maxim 
that will apply with particular force to this branch of farm improve¬ 
ment. 
The material necessary for a good wall, is flat stones; the requi¬ 
sites to ensure durability are, a substantial foundation, which will 
give equally to pressure or to frost—a sufficient base to sustain the 
superstructure—a coping, and a good workman : and to render them 
efficient, they should be 4i or 5 feet high, either entirely of stone, or 
crowned with a sufficient wooden structure. If the mass of stone are 
not flat, or rather if they are all round, they will not stay long in their 
place, without a broad base, and great slope upon the exterior sur¬ 
face. Round stones should be only used in what are denominated 
half walls, and which are to be crowned with wood. If the founda¬ 
tion gives unequally, the structure of the wall will soon be deranged, 
and parts of it will fall. A prudent way is to base it upon the hard- 
pan, or subsoil, by clearing off the surface earth. Stone walls, un¬ 
less laid in lime, which, by the bye, is an excellent practice, particu¬ 
larly about farm-buildings, where the expense can be afforded, 
should incline inwards from the base to the coping. The slope 
should be an inch in a foot; and if the wall is five feet high, and 
twelve inches broad at top, it should be two feet broad at bottom. 
The coping, which consists of broad stones, extending across the 
top, tends, by its weight and its bond, to keep the materials in place. 
Heavy stones, of suitable size, should be reserved for this use.— 
But even with good materials, a good foundation, and a broad base, 
a stone wall will not be permanent, unless the stones are properly 
placed, so as to constitute a bond, and prevent their falling piece¬ 
meal. The construction of a wall of stone or brick, demands an ob¬ 
servance of the same professional rules of structure, whether it be 
intended for a fence or a dwelling. The breaking of joints, both 
lengthwise and across, which we denominate the bond, constitutes 
the main strength of the structure. 
There are three modes of constructing stone, fences of in common 
use: 
1. Where the material is abundant, and where the whole struc¬ 
ture is to be of stone. Such should be five feet high, two feet broad 
at bottom, and one foot at top, which will allow a flare of one inch to 
the foot on each surface. 
2. Where the materials of the fence are to be part stone, and 
part wood, which is sometimes termed half wall fence. In con¬ 
structing this, posts are first set in the line at proper distances, the 
wall is then built 2^ or 3 feet high, and boards nailed to the posts 
above to the required height, or two rails added, holes for which 
should be made in the posts previous to their being put down. The 
posts serve to steady and preserve the wall; and they should be of 
durable materials, as cedar, locust, &c. as their situation subjects 
them to rapid decay. Another mode is, to insert three foot‘posts 
into pieces of stout plank, or blocks of wood, to be worked into 
the wall li or 2 feet above the surface of the ground, and to close 
the wall over them, and then add the boards or rails as before. 
3. Wall with riders. This is built, of any convenient height, of 
stones ; poles or rails are then laid lengthwise upon the top ; stakes 
to cross are then inserted, which keep the poles in place, and sup¬ 
port other poles or rails, placed upon them, which completes the 
structure. 
EARTHEN OR SOD FENCES. 
In many districts, where fencing materials of all kinds are scarce 
and dear, earthen or sod fences are resorted to. But they are ge¬ 
nerally badly constructed, and are of temporary duration. Like 
most other farm operations, there are more ways of doing the thing 
wrong than of doing it right; and if there are no rules laid down 
for doing right, the wrong is of course likely to prevail. To remedy 
the general want of information upon this subject, we give the sub¬ 
stance of Anderson’s directions for constructing them, with the re¬ 
mark, that it might be advisable with us to make them of less height 
than he directs, and to crown them with a board or rail. 
He directs that sod fences, or dykes, be built three and a half, or 
four feet broad at the base, 15 or 18 inches at top, and 5 feet high, and 
that the sods or turf be so laid on, having been first cut of the re¬ 
quired size, in such a manner as that every sod from top to bottom, 
binds the joinings of the other below it, with as much accuracy as 
bricks in a well built wall. The uppermost course of sod is cut a 
little longer than those that are immediately below it, and placed 
with the grassy side uppermost, so as to project a little on each side, 
which is not only of use to throw the water a little off the wall or 
dyke, but is also of use in preventing sheep or cattle from at¬ 
tempting to jump over it. He has found, that a wall, whose 
foundation is stone, though the stones rose no more than a foot, 
having the upper part finished with sod, or alternate layers of stone 
and sod, is probably more durable than any other kind of fence 
composed of either of these materials. We doubt the utility of 
mixing stones and sods in our dry and hot climate. The grass 
would die, the earth crumble down and the stones fall. At the foot 
of the wall or dyke, on both sides, is dug a ditch l£ or 2 feet deep, 
leaving a ledget of a few inches broad on each side, that the dyke 
may not be undermined by the crumbling of the loose earth into 
the ditch. These ditches not only give the dyke an additional 
height, and keep its foundation dry, but are also of use to prevent 
cattle from coming close to it, and rubbing upon it or tearing it down 
with their horns, which they are very apt to do if this precaution be 
omitted. Earthen dykes or fences can be built at about one-fourth 
part of the expense of stone walls, where stones are convenient, and 
if carefully built, may be kept in repair for any number of years, at 
a very small expense. The reader will find the subject more large¬ 
ly treated of in Anderson’s Essays, vol 1, p. 7, and in the 4to ed. of 
Dickson, vol. 1, p. 155, &c. Of the cuts below, fig. 33 shows a 
Fig. 33. 
Fig. 37. 
stone wall with a stone coping; figs. 34, 35, 36 and 37, represent 
the manner of forming earthen fences, so as to prevent their crum¬ 
bling down and being destroyed. Fig. 34 is a perpendicular section ; 
fig. 35 a side view; fig. 36 is a perpendicular view of each row of 
turf as it lies in the fence ; and fig. 37 is a view of a ha-ha, or sunk 
