VOL. LIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., NOV. 11. 1899.
NO. 45
_xpexizutz JiXzpixxlmzuX.
What is tha Best Farm Fence You Saw
at the Fair, aad Cost?   Mra You
Using Rest Cedar Posts?
What Do The; Cost
and Where Do
You Oat
Them?
No copy haa been received upon thl* topic
for tome reaeon, and lt 1* something of a die-
appointment, for it wa* supposed that the
fence queetion wae one of the moet Interesting that could be named, to a majority of
our reader*. Mr. Collins give* a good long
review of the subject, all the eame.
Later.—[The following came to hand atthe
laet moment and after the Review had been
written:]
1st Premium.—Thie, no doubt, suggests var-
lou* opinion*. To my mind the Creeent Mtv
tallc Stay fence suggests possibilities of being
made ae good as any, for the reaeon that you
can use barbed wire ln ite composition, and
from my experience no wire fence will satisfactorily turn all kind* of etock and take care
of Itself without barbed wire ln its make up.
My plan for a good fence ie to uee 12 wire*, 4
ot them barbed and alternated with the
imooth. ae suggested for ite beet protection
and then use No. 9 emooth or cable for the
balance, all galvlnized. I use red cedar posts,
Une poste 8 feet long, bury them 3 feet. Two
large end poete at each end, 9x9 at top, 10 feet
long and bury 5 feet. Have them securely anchored and braced. I bore holee In end of
poete, the proper space* for the wire, eo ae to
put the strain in tbe center of poets, they not
being so apt to twist and creel, and then put
a brace on each side of wire 2}£x5; then eet
your line posts, wire side in line with center
of end poste, and in stapling your wire have
your ttaplee large enough to give every wire
eome play, and then use one of Fields' patent
epring rachets on each wire, to each 40 or 60
rods. Then I use the Cresent Metal lc stay .putting them on about 4 feet apart, they will be
ln three lengths, upper and lower over each
other, and the middle alternating spaces, they
are fastened on with a nail made for the purpose, and the machine to put them. on with
cotts 75 cents. The end poete oost about 52
cents each; line poet* 28 or 30 cents, and you
can set them 24, 28 or 32 feet apart, just at
you like. Thirty-two feet apart make* a good
fence. Stay* coet from 20 to 25 cents per rod,
and wire, since "prosperity" ha* «truck u* eo
hard, will cost near 40 cents. The objection
to diagonal woven wire is you cannot take up
the sag. J. J*
Oarmel.
2d Premium.—The beet farm fence ln thl*
eectlon of the country is the barbed wire,
this being the only fence at all feasible where
wood la scarce and lumber very high. The
question of availability must be considered
ln every locality. We have seen stump fences
(not at the fair) rail fences, board fences, but
for real durability and practical use the barb
wire eeems about the only thing In this section. Large areas are fenced ln for pastures;
we have two pastures aggregating at leaet one
hundred and sixty acres, and theee are both
fenced with barb wire; the first cost la from
12 to 15 cent* a rod, with two wire* and poet*
(cedar) two rod* apart. The fence muat be
Put up tight and atrong, or lt will bs worth
less, but with the posts at the distance mentioned add two good wires it will hold horses
and cattle perfectly. Oedar posts are very
high here, costing for small ones fifteen cent*
and for larger onea twenty cents each, the
corner* muat be well braced and propped,
with strong post*, but with a good tool made
on purpoee for setting posts, and another de
vice for stretching the wire, a good fence can
be put up speedily. Here, post holes are not
dug, the posts are driven into the ground;
this saves much time and labor. In estimating the coet as above I did not allow anything
for coet of labor, which of couree would add
eomethlng to actual coat of fence. It 1* true
that atock do get cut in barb wire fences, but
the emooth wire ls soon broken down by the
stock rubbing against it If rags are tied to
the fence they will attract the attention ofthe
stock and prevent their running Into the barb
wire. When etock are accustomed to tho
fence there is little danger. R  S. M.
S. Dakota.
Kivrxw.
The evolution of fence building has been
of unusual interest. I remember so well when
farmers taught that it was a moral obligation
to save timber, lest we should soon run out of
fence material. . They did not realize that at
the rate timber was used by pioneers to build
fences lt would require over half the land to
grow timber to perpetually fence lt. There
ls not now any rail timber on most farms
around hero.
In early days other material was not to be had
and they had to build of the most available
material. It also helped to get lt out of the
way. But one of the most puzzzllng and annoying things about farming la the decay and
replacement of thlnga. This expensive condition ln continually recurring, and most
everything from the buildings to the stock on
the farm. Our teams and cowa grow old and
finally worthless. Oar machinery wears out.
Our buildinge and fences need constant repair. We say, well, this year I will build a
new barn, and next year buy a team, and
next build lots of fence, and then I will have
a rest, and hoard up a little for a rainy day.
But by that time a binder is needed, the next
year a mower, then some fencing, and so it
goes. It is this constant drain In repairs that
keeps many a man down all his life.
Nowadays we have offered more durable
material. Instead of building a bouse or
barn on corner stones, to rot down directly^
we use etone walls for foundation. Our
houses are easily kept painted, and with ga).
vanized tin, or slate rcofs we can make a
building almost perpetual without much ex.
pense. We can without great expenee build
good tool houses, and vastly lengthen tbe life
of tools. We can use young horses to seven
years old and sell them for more than they
cost. We can turn cattle into money in their
prime. We can substitute tile ditches for the
expensive wooden ones, and at lesa actual
cott, and the drainage I* far better than before and la perpetual. But ln fences we are
away behind the times. We are really ln the
wooden age aa when we put wood Into dltchea.
Thla le not for lack of durable material but
becauee we don't wake up. I saw a new fence
the other day built of wood, with oak posts
every seven feet and three planks at the bottom. Thts took about as much lumber a* a
wooden ditch, and will rot down almost as
quickly.
Let us see how impractical it is to fence the
old way now. To fence a quarter section o f
land with oak rails would require about 2,000
rails. Allowing 10 feet to the rail would
make 200,000 feet of oak worth about $2,500.
Add a cent a piece for making and a half cent
for hauling and laying, and we have $300
more. Our rail fence will soon need repairing, and always needs some attention.
In changing from rati fences, by dire necessity of circumstances, we have passed
through all stages of evolution. The Jack
fence of rails and rail posts. It eoon racked
and went bad. The Kentucky fence alio used
up old rails, but soon rotted at joint* and
racked over. Other patent* to use rails naturally became popular and acted as a make
shift till something else eould be developed.
Then came wire and picket fence which did
fairly well for a time, when lt disappeared.
Then the half picket and tho Iron pickets.
All this time barbed wire was gaining recognition. Wo have partly passed barbed wire,
and new fences are now moetly of smooth
galvanized wire, often with a few barbed
wires, eay one at top and one at bottom. As
to posts, however, we find the same evolution.
The oak poet, top down, then top up, the
framed posts of numerous kinds, the cement
post which broke iff, the cement and Iron
poet that rutted off, the cast base that lifted
with froet, or twisted ln the ground out of
ehape, the gaa pipe poet that rusted off or
bent, the telegraph, tamarac poet that lasted
no longer than the oak, and the northern soft
pino that you planted today and replaced next
spring. And so we went merrily along, each
one learning the same lesson for himself that
his neighbor bad dearly learned, till now we
are gradually coming to our senses and buying Red O^dar from the south. We are surprised that they can be bought so cheaply.
We are surprised that they are so durable.
Poets are rotted by amlcrobetbateats tbem
up when ln the presence of warmth and moisture. The red cedar does not suit the palate
of this little turk and he runs away to happier
hunting grounds. Tbe red cedar Is found ln
a belt of timber a hundred miles wide, and
reachlog from East Tennessco to the western
prairies. The timber can be bought cheaply
ln many parts of the South. Nearly the entire cost of post* He* ln the cutting, preparing for market, and shipping. I handled
some nice straight red cedar pottH to-day that
would make a man's mouth water. They
were eight feet long with a straight sawed face
on the four sldee.and were five Inches through
at the top. Thie looks fine and will make a
five foot fence that will not break or rot off,
has size enough to hold its place in the
ground, and will be there when I am dead of
old age. It costs at retail here 27 cents. The
end poet* were eight Inches square and
cost more. All told lt took 42 for an 80 rod
fence, less than $14 The smooth wires on
this fence were not waved or colled bb the fad
now goes, but were straight, and were kept
taut by a strong etrlng placed in each wire ln
the second space from the end. Thla spring
hae a ratchet in it. It le claimed that thla
devlcs is not ao hard on tbe posts.
There Is another smooth, wire fence in this
place that Is a very good one. It has No. 8
colled wire and a very stiff wire stay which ls
held to the horizontal wires by a clamp and
an iron wedge pressed ln with 13-00 pounds
pressure. It Is tho etiffeet fence I have seen
Oae can climb lt like a rail fenco. The cyclone Is also a very desirable one, only the
stays are a littlo too weak. At the fair I liked
the Kltselman and the Kokomo fences well.
They seem light, however, but are very popular. Every one know* of the woven fences
that you buy at tho factory, but they are
harder to get on a hilly line without getting
out of shape. One neighbor stretched taut
No. 9 smooth galvanized wires with ratchets,
and then placed an upright of poplar, one by
two, on opposite sides and clinched a nail
through the two.
I must not fail to mention seeing at the
fair a little Instrument about the elzj of a
saucer that le used to wrap stay wires up and
down any wire fence already up. I wish some
wide-awake Yankee would go South and ship
up red cedar poets all over Indiana. He
would have a good business. There ls lots of
inquiry, but the southern people won't advertise ln our papers. Tbe result is that many
of our farmers do not know about theee posts,
and others can't find them. I prophecy a
rushing business to any one who will go down
there and push lt.
I call attention to the following valuable
letter, just received from an agent of a binder
company, who has traveled with the ripening
wheat crop from Texas to Amlnlbola. He
kindly writes on how and where a young man
may secure a bome, and finally recommend*
with much good tense that he go to Asslnl-
bola, Oanada Jas L. Kingsbury says of that
country, in his recent trip up there, that the
soil ls formed ln a peculiar wav. That when
the glacier began to melt away there was bo
much ice north that lt dammed up the water
and made a lake eay one hundred feet deep.
In this lake were deposits of mud and rich
soil. Since the glacier has disappeared tbe
drainage la north but the soil 1* a hundred
feet deep. So a* our writer and Mr. Kingsbury say this soil ts very rich. The one objection Is ever present, that is that It ts so far
north that you can tie your clothes line to the
North Pole. Yet ln looking at the map you
will see that tbe E-O.h parallel runs through the
eouthern part of lt and tbat this latitude also
runs nearly south of Germany and through
the south part of Russia. St. Petersburg 1*
on the GOth parallel.   Here ls the letter:
It has been my privilege to visit over twenty
otthe different states In the Union,   most  of
them  western  states ".where opportunities for
agriculture are the beet.   During  the  season
just passed I have had the opportunity to   observe  the  grain and other farm products at
the stago of maturity through the whole length
of tho  North   American   continent.   During
the   first   part of May I started ln the harvest
fields ln the southern part of Texas and drove
from ten to ssventy mile* ln the country each
day, until the latter part of September, traveling ln the meantime about 8,000 mile* by rail.
During that time I visited various section* of
Texas, Indian Territory, Oklahoma,  Kansas,
Missouri,Illinois,Iowa, Minnesota, North Da-
kola, Manitoba and the Northwest territories.
I had the very best opportunity to observe the
conditions among the farmers, and feel  that
I can throw some light on the subject "How
and  whero  can  a  young married man who
s'arts from the stump acquire a farm  home."
The  time has passed when good farm land
can be taken  up as homestead  within the
boundaries of tho United State*.   In the western part* ot Teia«, Kansas, Nebraska.  North
and South Dakota, land may be bought for
$8  and upward  per aero, on easy payment*.
The quality of the land however ls  poor and
crop  conditions   are   very   uncntaln.    In
the province of Manitoba the most desirable
land has already been taken, though ln  *ome
sections  there ls still good land to ba had on
easy terms.   However ln the province of   As-
stnlbota  there are still thousands of acre* of
government land to be  taken  up  ae  homestead,  at  a cost of $20 for 160 acres, to which
complete title may be obtained after the homestead requirements have been complied with.
This  land  ls  however quite a distance from
the railroads, as the valuable  land  near the
railroads  has been  taken  long ago.    The
Canadian Government gave to the  Canadian
Pacific  Railroad   Company a land grant of
every other section of  land,   through  which
their road   passes, and  from   them   «ome
of the b3*t farm land on the North American
continent can be obtained at $3 per acre, with
ten years time to pay for lt, that is   one-tenth
of  the  purchasing  price ls to be paid at tha
time of purchase; the next payment at the
end  of  two  years and the balance one tenth
each year until paid, with interest on  unpaid
money at six per cent.   The land may be had
anywhere   from   one  to fifty milea from the
Canadian Pacific Railroad station* and town*
and in communities where every other section
of land ls either cultivated or held by  owners
for speculation.   The land   le  mostly  black
loam with clay bottom, and in some sections
is entirely free from stones and  timber,  and
In other portions ls covered partly with young
trees and somewhat stone-bound.   The  soil
Continued on page 10.