Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1841-02-23
From the Union Agriculturist.

FENCING.
Allow mo through your paper to give
few hints T. my brother farmers upon the
subject Of fencing
The great value Of timber in all prairie
countries, seems to indicate that some 9TH
or material ought to be substituted for fen
cling; and the mos: convenient and durable
should be selected
There are numerous modes, practiccd in
different countries Of fencing without tim
Der, as stone and brick in walls hedges
formed Of live brush wood; ditch and bank;
embankmcnt with live hedge on It ditch
without cmbankment; hedge formed Of dry
brushwood interviewer, &c.
Stone is out OF the question on our prai.
RIGS; brick is too expensive for general
use live hedge requires fence to pro-
tcct it for some length Of time; ditch and
crumbing from the frost; embankmcnt with
hedge will be destroyed by cattle and hogs,
unless protected; ditch is liable to the same
objection that ditch ana embankmcnt is
dry brush is too pcrshabIe to be recon-
mendcd.
BY combination Of some Of the above,
we may obtain cheap and durable fence.
Ditch and embankment with d hedge on
the embankment seems to be our only al
tentative. The ditch VIII defend the en-
baukment and ditch from the horns and
jiws Of vicious or hungry cattle, and the
shouts of prairie rootcr- the roots Of the
hedge viii preserve the embankmcnt from
crumblng or falling, and the whole will
improve by age and proper care.
Material for Hedge.-I have made some
inquiry, and tried a few experiments to
ascertain the best native shrubs and timber
trees for hedges. Thorn, crab, and plum,
may be obtained in abundance and will
answer n good purpose for hedge, but the
roots being Of slow growth 1t is feared they
will not support the cmbankment in time to
preserve i; from falling by the crumbiing
Of the ditch under the sod.
Cotton wood and the willows, natives !;
and Lombardy poplar, foreign, grow free
~ from cuttings, and the roots spread ra-
pidiy and soon form good support for the
cmbankment. If any one should wish 10
form fence without being troubled with
the shade, and the expense of trimming
UCGEc, tuc NCllOW uNUIt WHOM, iOuIIu Oti
dry prairics and barrens, may be used with
great advantage by placing cuttings at the
bottom and between the sods as the en-
bankment is being made, if done in April.
Cotton wood viii grow from two 10 four
feet the first season from cuttings, if pro-
perly set but will require bending down
and Interviewing 10 form good fence !;
for which | could give drawing (of the
process Of bending and Interviewing if
desired, o. could it I've obtained from some
old number or the Cutivator A fence
made with double ditch and embankment
between the bitches. with 4 hedge row Of
cotton wood on the top, properly bent and
| interviewer, must be peIm&nent and would
have fine appearance. After the hedge
is sufficiently grown, the bitches nay he
neglected or filled in with the pillow, unless
required for draining the land, in which
case they will be kept open.
Mode Of making the Fence. Being pre-
pared with stakes two lines, shovels, spades,
&C.. set your stakes along the range Of
your fence the length of your line apart !;
stretch your line three feet from the stakes;
commence cutting along your line with the
spade to nearly the depth of the blade
When YOU have cut thus the whole length
Of the fine, set your line of three feet and
| half for the outside Of The ditch cut as