Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1856-06-11

These QOlQen hours Oh CllliuiioOu uh1S
Will bloom in fresh perennial bays
AS time rolls on.
Farewell old friends of mirth and cheer
Farewell sweet scenes to memory dear, th
Yet grateful thought will linger here
When we are gone.
From tie Baltimore Sun.
A Few Words About Fences.
believe it is well settled, both among mora
lists and thrifty agricuturistss that land should
not be wasted, or in other words, should not
be allowed to lie useless or proftless where
there are hands to cultivate it, and population
to consume its products. Such being the case,
it is something to me incomprehenslble that
farmers have from time immemorlal, disregard
ed, and still disregard, in the fencing OF their
fields, this important principle in the economy
of agriculture. That men should expend toll ana
money on the clearing of lands, and after they
had been so cleared should endeayor to cheat
the plow-the very instrument Of which they
had been prepared, out of as much as possible
seems an absurdity indeed. Nevertheless, such
is the case else what is the mission OF worm
fences-else why do men persist in dividing
their fields by lines as crooked as geometry and
the quantity of their timber will admits pre-
sumo the secret of the matter is, that they who
believe in worm-fences think crooked line the
shortest that may be drawn between two points
Therefore, in order that they may save rails and
stakes, they discard straight lines, believing that
fence built angularly and zigzag will not re-
ouire SO heavy q, draught upon their forests as
those made without inclination direct to their
termini! For the edifcation of these acute
geometricians, let us consult our arithmetic and
see whether we cannot convince them that they
err. and that they err in manner that is pre-
judicial to their own and the public's best and
dearest interests. Take square field, the side
of which is 40 perches-a fence around it OF IL
rails to the rod laid down at the usual angle
will REQUIRE $500 rails of eleven feet in length
and about GAO stakes of nine feet in length. A
gain let straight post-fence bound each side OF
the field, and we find that $500 rails OF eight
and one quarter feet in length, and 800 posts OF
nine feet in length, will suffice to make an en-
closure of the same height and strength as the
former True, the mortising OF and digging
deep holes for the posts occasion considerable
labor. but not SO much more than the placing OF
stakes, or in such degree that when the whole
expense of both fences is taken in consideration,
the worm-fence would prove to be the cheaper
For when it is recollected that especially along
high roads, the stakes have to be replaced year
lv-that every time they are so replaced about
one-half of the whole fence must be readJusted,
and that this replacing and repairing must be
done at least half score of times before good
post-fence will need a mending hand-it will not
seem a doubtful assertion to say (even leaving
the timber out of the question,) that worm
fences are the most expensive. But it is shown
above that the rail of the post-fence is 3-4 feet
shorter than that of the worm fence, which, IN
an enclosure requiring 1850 rails, would make
saving of 7,040 feet of timber of the usual rail
thickness, i. e., allowing that GAO stakes will
measure just as much as 800 posts.
The cost of this odd and primeval institution
| is not the only important point which arise In
the discussion of its merits We find where the
fence is built at an angle the usual oneD which
REQUIRES two rails of II feet in length to the
rod. that for every perch of fence there lies va
can't and uncultivated nearly 100 square feet OF
ground Whereas straight fence made with
| posts, would exclude from cultivation but about
16 1-2 square feet to the rod.
have written enough to show that worm
fences are nuisances-public and private-that
hereafter an interdict should be laid upon their
construction straightp tpost-fences are cheap
er. and occasion less waste of land; and that II
American Farmers will do justice to themselves
and to the thousands that look to them TOR
bread they will till the hitherto unplowed soil
included in the angles of crooked fences, and
forbear cutting down their forests for purpose
which can be much better served in far easier
and less extensive manner. AGRlCULToR.
SHOOTING STARs-There was man who, when
the stars were complaisant below, used to rig up
telescope wherewith to study astronomy at
sixpence squint.
One night as he was getting under way | saw
two Irish gentlemen taking an observation OF
his movements. Both were policemen.
"Jamey," said one, 'what in the wurreld Is
YOUR fellow after with his machinery J"
"Whist ye spalpeen," whispered the other,
"sure and can't We see that it's an air gun can
non. that he's got He's after shooting stars, ne
is"
"Had'nt we better be getting out ov the way
thin ~ inquired his friend.
"Sure and it's not us, was the answer. didn't
We ever hear of shooting stars z"
By this time the telescope man had arranged
his instrument and squinted through it up at tne
stars. The policeman gazed up like wise IN
wonder. Just then, by an odd chance, large
meteor shot down the sky. ~,
"Bedad, he hit it-he's fetched 1t down e
cried both of the paddles in breath. sure
and that's the greatest shooting l iyer saw In
my life 2" But sense of duty at once prevsiled,
and one of them at once rudely accosted the
man of science.
"Yell just stop that now, mister. av ye phase.
The night is dark enough now, plinty, and av
you go on shooting stars at that rate, sorra the
man will find his way about the strate."
And the telescope man had to pick up and be
off,
WHERE IS Mrs. LUCY SToNE9-An old bach
elor, talking of ''wonan's rights" in our office
yesterday alk of equality tEsv Of 5.1a intellect eot
where the sphere has been unquestioned and
wide open to 'em this thousand years. Sir
No woman ever produced great painting or
statue;
No woman ever wrote great poem;
No woman ever wrote a great drama
No woman ever composed great opera, or
other piece of music;
No woman ever produced an important me-
chanical invention;
Al .; no woman was ever O gTeGt cook