OL. XXIII.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., SATURDAY, APRIL 28,1888.
NO. 17
\ \
her
„ lor the Indiana Fanner.
Wire and Picket Fence.
BT GEO. W. WILLIAMS, ECONOMY, IND.
time has come -when farmers deft better and cheaper fence than
rail, board, hedge or barb wire.
il fence has in the past come nearer filial, the requirements of a perfect fence
an any other that has been tried,but the
.sent high price of tim*ber,and the extra
a makes it too costly to make. Plank,
and barbed wire have all been tried
varying success, and all have fatal
notions.
he principal objection to wire, either
ooth or barbed, whenuiod alone,is that
oe3 not make a fence sufficiently snb-
ntial to turn small stock, as itis merely
keleton fence, nor  does it have enough
jyto be sufficiently visible to large
ick.  Hence it is very apt (and especial-
barbed wire) to injure them.   Accord-
to the best authorities obtainable, this
titem amounts to over $18,000,000,some
as much as ?25,000,009 annually in the
ited States.   These things make wire
desirable to use alone, and the liability
wood to rot in the joints, whether put
in the shape of  plank or picket fence,
well as the  expense, makes  it a short
and costly fence.
ie idea of combining the two was orig-
,ted about 25 or 30 years ago, and was
'ught to considerable perfection in some
fc-tsolthis country, and also in Prance,
ere it was used extensively. The high
ce of wire and the low price of timber
make rails precluded its use in this
ntry to any considerable extent until
ly, when the reduced price of wire,and
higher prices of timber, make it the
it economical f ence.ih use at the present
e. In the first place it has no joints to
water, and as the pickets stand per-
ndicular it lasts a long time. Some in-
nces being on record of its lasting 25
rs. It generally outlasts two sets of
, the old ones being easily replaced
new ones, as there are no joints in the
oe.
'he second advantage  lies in the fact
im enough body to turn the smallest
imals, and to be perfectly visible even
the darkest night, and has strength
fficient to turn large animals,and withal
"bsolutely safe, as it  is impossible for
animal to injure itself upon it.
Jere are sorne tables compiled from es-
te* given by saw mill men and others
number of widely separated  points
^ing the cost of the different styles oi
,'*' being probably a correct average oi
State.  A careful study of which will
«y  any   one   who  is  interested in
cmg.
'.   0F  AN  EIGHT   KAIL FENCE PER ROD.
»In 18 rails, io leet each, at 80c per 1C0...«     1 44
«»l and iaying up, ijjo each „.. 27
Total
 r- I     1 71
COST OP HEDOB FENCE.
^preparing ground and culture flrst
.,   '" ._....  1 40
j ""l0*-' trl*aming lor three yearaat,'itel M
lT»t»l.. 	
" "*• t m  A 9_|
'-«t,AS-K PEXCE FIVE BOARDS   HIGH.
lo-1* T, • 8ettl*-K «»«"» *> each  U
I    ''«. nails Jo  » 12
[Total  	
p s'a *  wire f<Jnce can be made foi-about
$7 dan ** ^^ and Blat ,ence.but l£is 8°
li_arotger0Us and unsatisfactory that it
I16ar« any price.
r»0<li0(\V1RE A1,D SI*AT FENCE.
Y'lacic it.ei'-l?'or 5 of No- *2,bestanneale-l
taining about 1VA acre, which is about the
average size.
160 rods.
This gives  800 rods of  fencing and it
would cost as follows:
Rail fence at II 71 ,...1,468 00
Ground used in fence row X rod wide and 800
long, IX acres at ?4_ an acre     lf0 00
Total _ f 1,5.8 CO
Plank at «l M %  f32 CO
IM acre of land   —     5. 00
Total ?    882 CO
Hedge fence «    752 00
Land 1 rod wide, S acres-     200 00
or rived, and 55 for sawed.   It takes 40 to
the rod.
No. 2 shows the style of fence used in
windy situations, as it is less exposed to
the action of the wind. It is a very desirable style, as it takes less timber, and
Hangs lighter on the wires. To make this
style it is necessary to twist the same way
twice in succession, and reverse twice.
The neatest fence I ever saw was built
this way over  a  10 inch  baseboard, and
painted white.
rrrrr?ffiY.
i*^!!*-1*-*--".- zzzz
■Total.... —
To
' *PPlv tvT '       w
their fnii ,88 fi8t-res 80 they will con-
u> »nd an!rrce> we will take an 80 acre
gran, ^h, Ivido u a-8 Per the annexed
AMs makes six fields, each con-
Total	
Slat and wire at 67c	
1*4 acres land	
Total »   686 00
These figures show the necessity of a
radical improvement on the old methods
of fencing, clearer than whole pages of
logic, and I think they are plain enough
to point a moral without further comment,
and I will waive further discussion, and
give a few points of information, and directions for making picket and wire fence.
Just criticism has been offered against
this style of fence " as it has been constructed, and as the trouble has been principally in the improper construction, I
hope to show by this article the proper
mode of putting it np, so that these errors
may be avoided. I know by experience
in constructing thousands of rods, that
when it is put up in a proper manner that
it not only gives the best of satisfaction
but is the neatest, cheapest and most durable fence that can be made to-day. By
carefully studying and heeding the following suggestions drawn from large observation and experience, the novice need
make no mistakes.
The posts being the foundation, they
must be well set and braced, or the work
will be in vain. They should be set not
more than 10 feet apart, and 30 inches in
the ground, and well tamped. The end
posts should be considerably larger than
the others, and should be set very securely,
as the life of the fence depends principally
on these. A very good way is to dig a
hole two or three feet larger than the post
and fill in with rock set in cement. This
stays the post, and also preserves it indefinitely. These end posts "should be
braced from the bottom of the next post,
not to a stake as is sometimes done. The
wire should be at least as large as No. 10,
and No. 9 is better, but a little more expensive. Three strands are sufficient.
Black wire is of a more uniform quality
than galvanized, and cheaper in the long
run. I have samples of No. 8 wire that
has been exposed to the weather for 35
years, and is good yet. In building fence
of any kind the pickets can be dipped in a
mixture of iron paint and oil or water, 25
in a bundle, much quicker than they can
be painted after they are put up.
12 1  2 l 2 | 2  i 2 l
No 3 shows three out of the hundreds of
styles of fancy yard fence. The bent rods
are \i inch iron rods, or No. 8 wire twisted
together and cut the right length. Refused handles from handle mills make a
neat fence, or narrow strips scrolled into
a neat pattern, make a good and neat fence
for a dooryard.
THE KIND OF TIMBER.
Although any kind of timber can be
used, good white- oak is undoubtedly the
best, if procurable. Red oak is very good,
as it is not exposed to any moisture. Elm
serves a very good purpose and is cheap.
They should be cut four feet or four feet
six inches, by two and a half by thrte-
fourths inches. This makes a good solid
fence. Always guage the tops, to make
them even and nice, and keep them perpendicular, as nothing spoils the.looks of
a field so much as a ragged and uneven
picket fence; and the reverse is true.
Nothing makes a farm look neater, and
the farmer appear thrifty, as a nice, neat,
regular fence.
The machine to build this fence, should
be as simple as possible, and should be arranged so as to be regulated in regard to
height of fence and number of wires,slant
of pickets, and a few other points. There
are a number of good machines made, and
each person should investigate for himself the merits of each machine.
Written for the Indiana Fanner.
Piecing: Out  the Pastures.
BV WHS M. STAHL.
No. 1 shows the ordinary style of fence,
with the pickets all the same length. They
should be at least four feet long by two
inches wide and % inches thick. This
makes a very good fence for ordinary use^
The pickets will cost from  ?2 25 to ?2.5-
Undoubtedly we will hear much about
this some months from now. The advice
is always good, for it never pays to have
farm animals on short feed. But it is
much easier to piece out the pastures by
measures taken in the spring than to defer
operations until after midsummer; and in
the spring we oan take more effective steps
than later.
While I was thinking of this I was put
in receipt of an interesting communication
from a Farmer reader, Mr. J. T. Mathes,
who desired to suggest to me that we
should make preparations for more kinds
of hay and substitutes for it, in the future.
With the recent experience of last sum
mer and autumn, it would seem that we
would need no urging to provide against
such conditions in the future. But our
past conduct is sufficient warning that
many of us, not stirred up a little, will go
on in that short-sighted policy that rests
on "sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof." Which is true; and if some of us
don't "look a leedle out," the evil will be
altogether more than sufficient.
A splendid way to piece out the pas
tures at the fall end is to shorten them up
at the spring end. The blessed woman of
the story made good gooseberry pies by
putting in all the sugar her conscience
would allow and then shutting her eyes
and putting in another spoonful. Keep
the cattle off the pastures as long aa your
conscience will allow, and then nail the
gate shut and keep them out for a week
longer. Before the grass has made a good
growth it is too soft and watery to make a
good bite for the animals. I have seen '
cattle lose flesh rapidly on young grass.
I have no doubt my readers have seen the
same thing when cattle have been put on
pasture too early. And the thing to remember is that for every pound of growth
you allow the grass and clover to make
before the animals are put in, you will
gain three pounds before fall.
Very likely some reader is ready to say
that it's very nice for me to write this
way; that either I havo an unusual amount
of feed or else very few farm animals;
what are they to do if their feed runs
short before the pasture makes a good
growth? I reply, buy feed—bran, shorts,
meal, and whatever stores can be got. Too
many of us have an unholy horror of buying feed. We ought, perhaps, to raise all
the feed we need; but it is better always
to buy feed than to put the cattle
on scant rations or sacrifice tne pastures.
To put the animals on the pastures as soon
as they can get a bite in order to save purchasing feed is saving at the spigot and
wasting at the bunghole. In answer to
the question, when will it pay the farmer
I to buy feed, I reply, whenever otherwise
I his animals would have to be put on scant
feed or his pastures be injured by too
early cropping.
Many of us have timber pastures,which
now yield only a scanty growth. By a ,
little early spring work, or so employing
days when the ground is too wet for the
plow or harrow, we could double the
grazing they afford. We must clear out
the shrubs and other underbrush, and
give the sun a chance to strike the ground
for at least a few minutes during the day.
Burn this stufl and drown out the coals,to
make charcoal for tbe hogs by and by.
This work will also improve the timber
growth and.furnish enough stove wood to
last through the summer.
I have purposely refrained from speaking of green pasture crops, for these require extra land and have been so much
written about that they are apt to occur to
the reader as soon as this subject is mentioned. I can not urge the growing of
these crops too strongly; yet I would
grow them only after less expensive
means of piecing out the pastures had
been exhausted. Two very cheap ways
of furnishing fall feed are growing pumpkins among the corn and sowing the
groundafrom which the early potatoes have
been removed to turnips. Dig the pota •
toes as soon as they have ripened and harrow theground; sow the turnipseeds after,
not before a rain. As I plant corn with a
two horse check-rower, I must wait until
the corn isupbetore I plant the pumpkins.
With a sharp stick I make at each alternate hill a hole in which I drop a pumpkin seed, and press the hole shut with my
toe. The vines do not amount to much
before cultivation of the corn is ended.
Anyhow,I pay no attention to them; they
will endure much rough treatment,
turn up their toes and wilt for a few hours
and then grow better than before. I have
never been able to see that the pumpkins
reduced the corn crop.
Quincy, 111.
Captain Paul Boyton, who is on a swimming trip down the Ohio,passed Jeffersonville Wednesday morning and was met by
a fleet of skills and steamers. Tuesday
night he tried to stop over at Utica, and
applied for lodging at several houses, but
was refused, his armor scaring the people.
At two houses they thought him the devil
in proper person, and the women were
nearly scared into fits. Boyton passed the
falls of the Ohio rapidly and safely.