The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-07-13
FRIDAY. JULY IS, nses.
IRON AGAINST STEEL.

If the average reader were asked which would last the longest. iron nails or steel ones. he would promptly say that steel would far outlast iron. The following which we clip from an exchange will doubtless interest many readers:
 Farmers Bulletin No. 2ss, on the the hands of every man who wants to buy fence wire. steel roofing. or wire nails this year. It will satisfy him that iron wire when it can be obtain ed even at large increase in price, is by far the cheapest. The life of a steel wire nall Is six years. The life these can be had if the farmer will demand them) Is forty years The life of iron wire is from twenty to thirty years; the life of ordinary steel wire from six to ten years.
 Some reader may ask: Why is it that chemical analysis shows very lit- tie difference between Iron and steel? We are. no chemist; but the difference is physical, not chemical Many chii- dren amuse themselves by making can- dy in the home. If you do not pull pulling 1t you can develop fiber. This candy. when cola will break as readily as before if was pulled. Not so with iron; the finer stays in it. Iron wire
 
 is made from pig iron, and poured and Fooled frtm the fngct that is poured without any further work to l. The is of little account is because the hrdy of it Is of steel instead of iron. The same may be said cf steel roofing.
 There is demand springing up for iron wire as well as for making ranges and other articles. All that is now necessary to procure 1t in time is fer the farmer to demand 1t of his country merchant Tha nuRrphanf ruril 1t fcn the wholesaler, and the whole saler from the manufacturer; and the manufacturer wili proceed to fill the demand. Manufacturers always do In buying wire sold as iron. get a guaraIa- . tee from the manufactures or merchant that 1t is Iron wire. You must expect iron wire even at double the price is by far the cheaper and the most satis- factory in the end.
 It is astonishing how iron in snrne form has taken the place of wood in various ways. Iron wire for fencing and trellising is fast becoming univer- sal. not merely in cities, but out among the farmers and other country people Where formerly only the wom fence" of rough rails. or in some cases the more slightly post and board fence. was VI O0 SSSh SAck~ aEo nOW ullle9 or wire, either plain or barbed, not only pre- aenting a more slightly appearance but saving much room and making a much more effective fence. The reason of this is found in the two4fold fact that wood is becoming scarcer and more costly and wire cheaper and more plentiful
 We confess that 1t Is new to us that iron nails and wire will so enormous ly outlast steel just as we were not aware that steel is the cheapest not having paid much attention to such matters. If. as stated above, Iron wire will last from two to four times as long as the steel product 1t stands ia reason that the farmer should insist on iron. The carpenter who builds a house usually has little interest in the life of the nails he puts in 1t, but when the farmer starts out to build fences he has a direct pecuniary, as well as industrial interest in building them of the material that will last longest and require least repairing. The facts stated in the article we have quoted are material and worth inves- tigating.