Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1889-02-27

A
An the evening breezes creep
| Along the Skin is of the mountain wall
An he's squar', Shep is, that's all
Good housekeeping.
| Fence Posts.
I always read the report of the "Ful-
ton Farmers Club" with much pleasure
In your issue of January 26 they dis
cussed the post business. and there
seems to be much difference Of opinion
among the farmers in relation to
posts and post material. Since the
spring of 1871 I have had occasion
to make some miles of post fence. For
this purpose / have used wood of differ
ent varieties. For rails | prefer split
chestnut timber, as long as the wood
does not turn red and full of worm
holes, this is the most satisfactory. In
fact, | would use no other kind Of rails
if [ were not compelled.
In 1871 [ got possession of farm to
| which gentleman had come there fifty
years before and lived there, or next
neighbor to it, for all that time. There
was post fence along the road when
got it, which he told me was there
when he got it and the posts were not
reset in the meantime, but was then in
a tum bled-down condition.
I removed this fence and supplanted
it with another one. The posts of the
old fence were of the yellow locust va
riety, and we found many of them fit to
reset again. We did put them into an
vice to-day apparently good. From
what my friend said of those posts they
must have done service for eighty years,
| but there is no one here to tell whether
| they were green or dry or top of the
| wood up or down, when they were first
set in the ground. These are twice as
| old as Timothy Huines' posts. We made
| manv locust posts, which grow freely on
| our land, and we make no distinction
between top or butt wood; making
| posts of the trunk and limbs as long as
they are large enough to put holes in.
| We have experienced no difference as
| to their durability in the ground.
| Ii a farmer has 100 acres of land, on
which there is half an acre suitable for
growing yellow locust trees Tor posts,
my belief is that he would better use it
| for that purpose. The next wood to
yellow locust for durability / have
found to be mulberry; after that chest
| nut. We make our posts and rails and
l find the butts of chestnut of about
thirty years growth to be the best of
that kind. I made over 100 posts of an
old chestnut tree; the trunk of this tree
was odWCo lutO pOStS, ali Cu0 ILLUS OI
the top of the tree, large enough for
posts, were hewn. In the same way /
made great many walnut posts, also
some sassatras, and good many white
| oak. We have also used the butts of
chestnut oak; cut in the same place
where we made the chestnut posts from
younger wood.
My conclusions are that yellow locust
posts should stand at the top of the
list, then mulberry, chestnut, white
oak, chestnut oak, black walnut, but of
each kind except locust, posts made
from the tops of trees are decidedly the
poorest, while of each kind of wood
those made from the butts. have stood
it best in the ground and those made of
limbs from the tops were the worst,
lasting not half as long as the butt
wood My posts were put in indiscrim-
inately as to top wood up or down just
as it would suit and we have found no
difference as to that. Without doubt,
however, that all posts would better be
hewn and made ready for planting in
the green state, because it is so much
easier to do the work, especially in the
| case of the locust. For planting in the
ground it would be much the best to
have them thoroughly dry. If there is
no other way they can be stood up with
where where they will dry in the sun
and air. Some people stack them hori-
zontally on pile, which is not a good
plan, in as much as In that way perma-
nent rot may be started before they get
into the ground. 1t is a good way to
put them into the bottom OF hay NOW
for thorough drying before setting them
out.-Amity IN Practical Farmer.
Farm Notes.
Voelcker found from analysis that in
farm yard manure which had been rot
ted for three months there were per
ton "a pounds of potash, of phosphoric
acid and Is of nitrogen. Allowing 5
cents pound for the potash and phos-
phoric acid, and but 10 cents for the nj
trogen, the ton of manure will be worth
So.
The Massachusetts Board of Agricult-
ure cites a suggestive instance-that of
liveryman who spread the stable
refuse from fifteen horses on one and
one-half acres Of meadow several sue
cessive years, and harvested three crops
each season, aggregating seven and one
half tons of good hay--"as much as he
would have secured had the manure
been scattered over three times as
much land"
A box stall in the corner of Stephen
IL. Merritt's barn, in Duchess County,
n. Y, serves for an ice house. The ice
slides in at the window easily, and is
taken out by door in the feeding alley
in the summer. foot of sawdust upon
the loose boards and sticks provides
DRAINAGE The ice ia also surrounded