The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1882-08-19
RErAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS.
National Live Stock Journal i

kEIAlkS AND lMEkOHE HEMENTS.
National Live Stock Journal.1
To. keep a farm in repair requires th'
carful attention of the owner from tn,
day it is put into use. Trees, etc., tina
arc set for ornament or shade improve
from the hour they begin to grow; bu
pretty much everything else upon the
farm begins to show decay from the
day when it is exposed to the sun and
rain. The best of paint parts with
much of its luster in month, begins
to fade in three, is quite dull in six
months, and requires renewing in a
year. New pine board fences look
fresh, and enliven the farm scenery for
time, but all farm fixtures are so ex-
posed to the elements that Indications
of decay set in at the start, and this
tendency never diminshes.
Hence, with these facts before him it
stands the farmer in hand to build with
Il view to the natural tendency in
buildings and fixtures to vary from the
perpendicular and to get rust. Gate
posts that are not at first setstrictly up
right, unless changed, ever afterward
remain so. Inexpensive buildings re-
ccive more or less injury from the foun-
dltion at any point becoming defective;
hence it is better to .guard against
corner going down before the structure
is placed upon it. The sagging gates
or the untidy bars affect the appearance
of all in the immediate vicinity. The
gatc-posts are never too deeply or too
firmly planted; and for heavy gate,
hardly any depth or frmness of soil
about the hinge-post will absolutely in
sure against sagging. But heavy oak
stick, or three-inch plank, placed just
hor
against each post, will, as rule, hold
the hinge-post perpendicular and the
gate level.
The Impressions upon the mindSssOf
railway travellers, as they pass through
Il farming district, vary as much as
those Of the lover of art as he passes
from Il piece by one OF the first masters
to the merest daub by the scene-painter.
Farms at best, as they are usually trav-
erscd by railroad track-no regard 0e-
ing had to lines-are seen at a disad-
vantage. Yet, if fences are erect and
straight, and afford a reasonably sure
barrier against trcspassing animals; the
buildings kept in repair, and the ilnme-
taiatc premises kept clear of rubbish; if
the strength Of the land is not unduly
taken by slipshod tillage, the manure
pile in the meantime being left to rot
in the barn yard, Impressions received
from any view will be favorable.
But perhaps the neglect to drain wet
places upon the farm is as common a
fault as any other, and one that shows |
the want Of ncatness in fields, and en- |
tails lcSsuncu profits with unvarying |
certainty. When the team can be driv- |
On with Il load, over ground hitherto too |
wet and soft to bear an empty wagon, !
then it is evident that drainage has |
been made available. No land should !
be left about the corners or other parts |
of fields in such condition that water |
will stand long enough upon it to !
prevent good crop of corn being |
grown thereon. AS it has been proved |
possible 10 redeem impassahle swamps, !
there can be no reasonable excuse for |
continuing to tolerate unsightly angu-
lar parcels Of wet ground in inclOSed |
fields, kept either for tillage or for
grass.
1t is said that 4 man may generally |
be known by the company he keeps, so
the business character of the owner of
the farm on the right of the road, or
that one on the left, may be pretty cor
rectiE estimated at glance, even from
the window of the car moving at high
speed. The furrows being turned by
the moving team, whether these are
straight and deep or crooked ana shall
low, are facts that, disconnected from
all others, have a pointed meaning.
The man who reclaims wet lands upon
his farm, stacks in a clean, well-shelter-
ell barn-yard, TO be used as feed and
bedding, and to become incorporated
with the winters manure, keeps his
fences erect and his gates from sagging,
will give in these things evidences of
thrift, and show premises strongly in
contrast with the farm of the man over
the way, who habitually neglects to at
tend TO either of these very important
details.