306 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
2 1-2 feet deep. Red cedar, burr oak, and white oak, make 
the best posts. A (veil hung gate is at all times much prefera¬ 
ble to a pair of bars, therefore, in passages much frequented, 
it should always be substituted for them. It is a good plan to 
have the gates slide horizontally, as they will be much more 
convenient, and much less liable to damage, than the ordinary 
kind. 
Most of the preceding remarks may not be quite relevant to 
the subject of this essay, but when it is considered how desti¬ 
tute most western farms are of requisite improvements, and 
how difficult it is to carry on a farm without them, they may 
on that account be excused, if not justified. 
STOCK. 
Proportion of Stock. —The farm being now well provided 
with fences and buildings, is ready for the rearing of stock, 
and the production of grain ; and as there always ought to ex¬ 
ist a certain proportion between these two great branches of 
Agriculture, it may well be inquired what that proportion is, 
for this is the foundation of all good farming ; and if it be not 
strictly or approximately observed, one of two things will 
always happen ; either the stock will suffer for want of 
food, or the land will suffer for want of manure ; so if an ex¬ 
cess take place either way, it must be remedied by diminution 
of stock, or by the purchase of fertilizers, for the fertility of 
the farm must be uniformly maintained or increased. It ap¬ 
pears, therefore, that on a farm of mixed husbandry, as much 
stock should be kept as is sufficient to return into the fields all 
the elements abstracted from them by the different crops of 
grain. This principle is general, and will apply in all cases. 
It is calculated that two acres of rich meadow-land is enough 
to supply one head of stock with pasture for the summer, and 
with hay for the winter ; but this quantity, owing to dry sum¬ 
mers, and a dry atmosphere, is too small for Wisconsin ; still, 
about three acres ought to suffice for that purpose here, espe¬ 
cially if the hay be aided by well-cured cornstocks, and oat- 
