Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1888-09-13


Relpful lluts for TAFnegD DeG1ro1s ofaov.
nag work and Aoaey.
First, Ihave learned that farmers do
not need half the fences that they keep
up on q majority Of farms, and that
they can farm more pleasantly and
probably in large than in small fields.
have a neighbor with farm of $50
acres, who. two years ago. removed
mile of division fences. and now tells
me that he would not allow any one to
put them back if they would do it free
of cost Several farmers of my neigh
borhood who have removed division
fences, so as to give them fields from
100 to 160 rods long, have made a
careful estimate Of the amount OF
work a team can do in these long
fields as compared with short ones.
and they find it takes third longer to
pillow a given amount in short rows.
Mr.. Bonham, State Secretary of the
Ohio Board OF Agriculture, has some
fields which are nearly half mile
long and only about one-fourth as wide.
and he tells me that a team would
cultivate one of these fields the long
way IN just two-thirds the time Il took
the short way. / have now in my en-
plOy young man who worked three
years On farm laid Off in fields aver
aging a third of a mile long, and he
found that he could cultivate An
acre of corn an hour with ease, and
keep it up day after day. As about
SIX and one-half rows made an acre. it
will be seen that he only had to walk
about two and one-fourth miles and
turn his team six and one-half times to
cultivate an acre.
Ten years ago l removed division
fences 50 that, with the exception of
four acres around the barn. which is
divided into as many lots for pigs,
calves, etc, my farm Of ninety acres is
all in two fields. One field of thirty
acres. which is rolling and has never
failing springs, is a permanent pasture.
The fifty-fve acre Enclosure is never
grazed. summer nor winter. Clover IS
sown on all land in small grain. and
either cut for hay or seed, or else it is
plowed under We p,ow down
on an average about fifteen acle s
year, the clover growing only between
harvest and autumn, and being plowed
down either late in the fall or early
the next spring. Any one who has
never tried the plan of letting clover
grow without being fed at all. from
wheat harvest till fall, would be sur
prised to see what a growth it will
often make. About two years out of
three / get as heavy d growth as is
natures a crop of seed.
Reducing the amount of fence is not
the only way of economizing fence on
the farm, for have also learned how
to make very cheap and yet effective
fences. First, except around two of
the acre lots, all my division fences
are made to turn cattle only. My
farm is better suited to wheat and
grass than to corn, and my system of
farming is mixed one. We run a
moderate-sized dairy. and do not want
hogs in the pasture to wallow in the
water. and so our hogs are all kept in
pens and feed lots. and the fences
made to turn cattle only. The fence
between the pasture and pillow land i.
made by a row OF locust trees set foul
feet apart. with single bar5ed wire
stapled to them three and one half feet
from the ground. and a row of Usage
brush laid along under the wire.
These trees were planted in 1879, and
in 1888 we stapled the wire to
them and fixed the fence. 1t
cost eight cents a rod. including
the wire and the time it took to draw
and place the brush, and each spring
since we have added load of brush.
putting on one here and there where
needed. There are SO many large
hedges in the neighborhoOd that We
can always get all the brush needed
for the hauling. and it has not cost
fifty cents year to keep up this nifty
rods of fence, and it is perfect pro-
lection. Many of the trees are already
large enough for posts. am SO
pleased with this that l have started
rows of trees for two other lines of
fence along the south border of q
pasture field. Another cheap fence
which l have found to turn horses
and cattle perfectly is made by setting
good, substantial posts from thirty
20 forty feet apart The end
posts are strongly braced and
three plain wires stretched. The
lower wire is two feet from the ground.
the second on, ten inches higher, and
the top one seventeen inches above the
last, or four feet and three inches
above the ground. Next. We drive
good. stout stake every FIVE or six feet.
and staple the wires to them. and then
nail three-inch strip of board be-
tween the two upper wires! This board