University of South Carolina Libraries
The depletion of the timber lot and the gradual decrease in the supply of lumber, with the consequent increase in the cost of wood, make the erection of fences on the farm a matter of con cern, for the landholder heretofore has looked upon wood as a proper material for the construction of an effective fence. Metal-that is, fL? ce wire-has almost entirely replaced the rails which at one time were considered necessary to make a fence stock-proof. We still find, however, that timber is, in most localities, the cheapest material for fence posts, though the supply avail able is becoming scarcer each year, and it 'c possible that in the future It may be necessary in every section A SUBSTANT] of the country to use posts made of Iron or concrete, even as is now done in many places. An essential feature of a rail fence is a comparatively short panel, but now that wire is, in the majority of cases, taking the place of the rail, it is questionable whether as many posts are necessary as was the case when rail were used. Recent tests were made at an English experiment station to de termine upon the best method of con structing.a fence. One point considered was whether a fence constructed with a dropper is as efficient and 'durable as one constructed entirely with posts. A second point under consideration was the minimum number of posts required In the construction of an efficient and durable fence when droppers are used and the character of the dropper re quired for best results. The dropper is a thin vertical brace used to strengthen the stretch of wire between posts. As metal is admittedly more durable than wood, an endeavor was made to obtain a suitable rigid metal dropper, but with out success. NOTCH THE CORNER POSTS LOW. An error that farmers sometimes make in erecting a fence is that they place the corner supports or struts too neag the top of the post, and conse quently at too great an angle with the line of the fence, so that when the wires are strctched tightly the post is pulled out of the ground, notwithstanding that huge bowlders are piled against the post or hung on it, in an endeavor to keep it in the ground. One fence which has been found to prove very satisfactory consists of square posts and top rail, with three or four rows of plain wire fastened on the outside edges of the post, instead of through holes bored in the uprights. To these wires is fastened ordinary poultry net ting with, say, an inch and a-half or two-inch mesh. This netting may be strained very tight and will lie as flat as a board, the appearance of the fer-ce being thereby greatly improved. While the use of barb-wire in the construction of fences is regretted, ow ing to the injury which it sometimes Infiicts upon the live stock, there is no doubt that its employment under cer 'gin conditions prolongs the life of a ..s.nee, deterring stock from rubbing against it and unduly straining the plain wires. It has been argued that stock soon get to understand how dan A PLEASING FENCE OF TD gerous barb-wire is, and when in a quiet condition are rarely injured by it; but once excited by panic or play they forget its danger and often suffer in consequence. While there may be some styles of woven fence which will enable the farmer to discontinue barb wire, the new material must have suf ficient elasticity to recover from occa sional ury severe and unusual strains and also sufficient to respond to our varied conditions of heat and cold, and so require no straining after its erec tion. The American fence manufactur ers seem to be ahead of the Europeans an ?a production of wire fences. for it - - *. --j (I ~M &-7 E. I / CES AND GATE PO GUY ELLIOTT MITCHELL. is possible to obtain from them fence! constructed entirely of metal at smal cost. While the unprogressive farmer i, content to have a few bars to let dowr in order to admit of the passage o: teams or wagons, no fence is complett without an entrance, and therefor without a gate, for at best bars art only makeshifts and a loss of boti time and temper. It is surprising hov common they are when excellent anc serviceable light gates can now be pur chased very cheaply and even wher the lack of money is an obstacle to thiE a handy man can, with the aid of ar axe, a hammer and some nails build and hang a strong useful gate with nc AL ROAD GATE. other outlay than the expenditure of a few hours' labor and certainly in less time than is required in the continual putting down and up of the bars. Experiment has shown that it is ad visable to have the openings of the farm gates 16 feet wide or thereabouts in order to admit of the transfer of the Fence Distorted by Improperly Placed Corner * Supports farm implements from one field to an other. Where some fields are plantec with small green crops from wh ch thE farmer desires to keep his poult::y it is thought best that the bottom rail 01 this gate should be, within an inch of the ground so that the poultry cannoi crawl under. The gate posts should bi EBER AND POULTRY WIRE. quite separate and distinct from an: posts used in the construction of th< fence, as a better effect is obtainet without additional trouble if they art slightly higher than the uprights it the gate and higher than the fenc< posts adjoining the gateway. Thi main entrance to the farm and also th. gateways around the dwelling may bh still further improved if a lile addi. tional trouble is taken to square thi gate posts and round off the tops. No gate can be said to be finishe' until it is painted, for not only doet painting aid in giving a tidy appear ance bu proong thelif of he oo. M(. STS. It will be better and a saving of time 1 if the timber after being cut up for the gates is given a couple of coats of ; paint before being put together. After the gate is completed and hung, it can be given a final coat. The first or priming coat should be very thin; i:2 fact, may be nearly all raw linseed oi. The second and last coats will, of course, be a little thicker, and in order to dry hard, and with a little gloss, I should contain a small quantity of tur pentine and boiled oil. While tastes may differ as to color, results have shown that white seems to give the most satisfaction, while the iron work painted black will make a slight con trast, adding to the improved appear ance of the gateway. STILL USE DASHE R CHURNS. Even in this Day of Creameries, But ter Is Made in the Good Old Fashioned Way. The chances are ten to one or better that the butter you buy at the grocery store now was made in a creamery, for the great bulk of the butter consumed in this country is made in milk estab lishments. But there is still some but ter made by hand, and "we still sell churns right along." The greater number of the individ ual churns now sold, said a churn manufacturer in Chicago recently, in speaking of the growth of the cream ery business, are of the cylinder type. operated by a crank, turning withir. the churn a wheel with paddles, some times like the paddlewheel of a steam )oat; but we still sell as well, churns of the old-fashioned type, such as our grandmothers used, and such as their grandmothers used before them. I might add that the old-fashioned dasher churn is still, as it has always been, painted blue. Who still buys these old styles hand churns in the day of machine-made butter? Why, so to speak, the oldest people, and the most modern, too. They are bought by small farmers keeping only one or a few cows, who naturally continue to make their own Whr 'heCr ne upot Wren the Por S from Pulling Out. butter, and who make it, of course, with a hand churn. Some of these farmers might make more butter than they would require for their own use; and the surplus they would sell, as they would their surplus eggs, to the ;country store. And you find larger farmers, too, farmers perhaps keeping many cows and selling the bulk of their milk to a creamery, still continuing to make the butter that they need for them selves and making it. as they have al ways done, in a hand churn. Such churns are sold to people liv ing in suburban or country homes and keeping cows, who make their own butter because they prefer to, anyway, and they are bought by various people everywhere who want sweet or un salted butter and who make it for themselves in hand churns. America exports churns to the West Indies and South America and to New Zealand and Australia and to dairying countries in various other parts of the world; but we still supply our own people with the 01(-fashioned dasher as we did twenty years ago. TO TACKLE HAZ~ERS; The hazing trials at Annapolis, fol lowed by the long discussion of the subject in and out of Congress, have served to widely advertise the Acad emy, and, as a result, there has leen an unusual rush of applications f::om ambitious young men who aspire to be come admirals. Many of the applicants breathe defiance to all hazers and re Icite instances of their physical low ers to demonstrate their fitness for ap pointment. One of the letters recently received at the Navy Department ran as follows: "I play football. have been captain of the basketball team these last two - years. I am also an expert with box Sing gloves, and would like to have some of the Annapolis fellows try their ihazing tricks on me. I imagine they Swould have to get real busy if they - tried to stand me on my head and .make me at soap." CONSOLIDATED SCHOOvS Assistant Secretary Hays Points C Necessity for More Thorough Fal Education. Is in Effect a Count High School. The consolidated school question a feature of the country school edui tion problem which is rapidly comi to the fore, especially in the northwe and it promises much for better fa education. The proposition is that , or seven or ten of the cross-roa schools in any rural district shall combined into one larger school a were it not for the question of trai portation of the sc'olars to and frc the central school, it would undoubt ly meet with universal favor. Frc an educational point of view the 2 vantages of the consolidated schc plan are very great. Assistant S( retary of Agriculture Hays is an E thusiastic advocate of the plan al states that where the plan has be' put into operation the beneficial i sults have been manifold. The qu( tion has been agitated to a conside ab::e extent in his own State of Min esota, due largely to his own effor1 Professor Hays is thoroughly alive the fact that a better scheme of ed cation is needed for the farm boy he is to keep his foremost positic among the world's agriculturists. FOR BETTER FARM EDUCATIOli The time, Professor Hays says, h gone by when an "ordinary" scho education will serve for the farm bc The three R's are not sufficient enable him to succeed in life. He mu have special education for farming ju as the young man or woman who Is enter professional life has special i struction along the lines he expects follow. And so the consolidat school comes in, with its better edu< tional facilities. Canada has taken an advanced stal on this question and is consolidatii her country schools. In a word tl farmer's children are being given tl advantages of a high school educatic As President Creelman, of the C tario Agricultural College has point< out, the system undoubtedly is, fro a standpoint of dollars and cents, mo expensive, for the first few years least; but the rural ratepayer has it decide for himself whether he wou rather pay five dollars more per ye and secure for his boy or girl su< increased benefits as the consolidati school can give or leave them in t] hands of an inexperienced girl teach who perhaps does her best in a litt one-roomed school, without faciliti of demonstration of any kind. PRACTICAL FARM SCIENCE. One of the most important featuri of these schools is the school garde where practical farm science is taug' in a practical way. Such gardens a not, however, confined to the co solidated schools, bat are now beir kept in connection with a number the more progressive district schoc in various parts of the country. Th4 are usually from two to three acres area, divided into experimental ai individual plots for each of the pupil ranging in size from six feet squa to six by ten or even twenty. The general plan of laying out eat garden involves (1) a belt of nati trees and shrubs surrounding tl grounds; (2) a half-acre playfield f the boys; (3) a lawn bordered wi shade trees for the girls; (4) a shad walk each for boys and girls, about hundred yards long; (5) an attracti' approach to the school, consistih chiefly of a piece of open lawn, wi shrubs and flowers on either side; ( a suitable reservation for individua and class plots; (7) an orchard p1 or border; (8) a forest plot in wh< the chief native trees are grown fro the seed. PLANTS GROWN BY PUPILS. The ordinary range of vegetable and a selection of flowering plants a: grown in these gardens, the pupi themselves furnishing the necessal work. In the large schools two hou each week are found sufficient fl the garden work, and one hour the smaller, in both cases under ti supervision of the teacher or a spec! Instructor. The school garden serv< a double purpose, since it not on provides the most practical form nature study but acts as a valuable I centive in the general school work. is no uncommon sight during the sul mer season to see a public school session out of doors, not with sla and pencil but with hoe and shov< The pupils thoroughly enjioy it. Th< are allowed the proceeds of their plc as their own property and in ad< tion may take -home the plants 1h over from thinning out. The cla plots are reserved as a source of re enue for the school and as a suppl In some cases, for the school luncht Former Iron Master Andrew Ce negie has indorsed the idea of phonet spelling-making the words sound they read, or read as they sound either way. Ut Grow Hair r Free $ 1.** is Package :a t, No Longer Any Excuse For Dandruff, m Falling Hair or Baldness. ds be ad LS m d I c n- 1 - id r s. Before and After Using This to Magic Compound. u if Foso actually grows hair, stops hair falling out, removes dandruff and quickly restores luxuriant )n growth to shining scalps, eyebrows and eyelashes, and quickly restores gray or faded hair to its natural color. I don't ask you to take my word for it; let me send you a full $z.oo package free. Write to-day. IS 61 FREE $1.00 PACKAGE COUPON . F out the blank lines below. eut out the con toand mail to J. F. Stokes. 3lgr-, 66r# Fotio BldgT.. m cinnatt Ohio. Enclose ten cents in stamps or silver St as an evidence or good faith and to help cover pack StIng, potage, etc. and the S.oo package will be sent StYOU at ncea by mail free Of crgLe. to to d a id --------- . . -... ----------- Give full address-write plainly. ie le a. JOE, THE INDIAN DOG. n- From Sunset. Id "Did he ever make friends with the M battery boys?" qt "No," said Sergeant Wright, "he nev to er did. I understand dogs, and I knoW Id that our dog Joe died of a broken heart ir at Fort Stevens, at the moutn of the :h Columbia, and we gave him a sort of d informal military funeral and buried ie him where the moaning of the bar is er always heard. le There had been a battle near the 's Yellowstone, and the Nez Perces had gradually had to give way and retreat as the dusk drew down to hide the dama'ge of the day. But all the war 's riors did not go. Among the rocks up EL, the calon, nine of them lay In one it heap, seven in another, at rest at last. ,e Four dogs were there doing the Casa a- bianca act, and a soldier lassoed one g of them in form and color like a fox, )f and brought him into camp. 1s Joe was the name given him, and ky day after day he was led by some mem in ber of the company until the long fif td teen-hundred-mile march was ended. s, He tolerated the portion of the. rations re handed him, but never smiled in re turn, and merely ate to live. He con ~h formed to constituted authority as a re matter of common sense, and on the e long steamboat trip down the Missouri rto Omaha, across by rail to the Pacific hand up the coast to Oregon, he was the dsame dignified dog, always with an ear a askance, anticipating the footstep of his Indian comrade. SBut it never came. No soldier had learned to love him, but all respected him for fidelity to his dead master. ls :h IMMIGRATION LEGISLA m TION. The Committee on Immigration of the House of Representatives has re as ported a bill raising the head tax on 'e aliens from $2 to $5. requiring each ls male adult to possess not less than $25 -y and each female $15, providing that rs every immigrant over 16 years shall >r be able to read and write in some lan in guage. and placing in the excluded ie class imbeciles, the weak-minded and al manual laborers of poor physique. The as Department of Commerce and Labor Ly is given discretion to admit or exclude af immigrants under 16 years of age n. coming to this country alone. The It proposed law, it is stated, would sift n- out a good many undesirable persons. In te i Don't Die ft 33 Millions Die Every Year yskNature's Law s- i Askyourself the question:" And the answer will be: " It d ic Then why not have good healt because some simple, natural 1: - Nature is a Stern and Grants .ho Pardons W/he. Better Learn You can't lear You can't lear Begin right r Learn a little ,Send a dime ot five two-cent stamps to years subscription for Maxwell's Homemaker in the H ome. Health from Nature, by Right Thot Read it every month-year in and year Health, and save Doctors' Bills and Drug Bille good health after you otherwise would have Whether you arc bmried or cremated doesn't counts. Train " Good Health " as your faitl Scythe and all, into the street if he calls ahea from Maxwell's Homemaker Magazine. NOTE.-If you do not wish to cut the coup subscription on a seps ONE YEAR Fi Subscription Price to Chicago and] Cut out this subscription blank, write ua 10 cents (silver or stamps> and we will mail you month for twelve muont by. lDon't delay, but send j Name Box or Street No. Postoff ice .Enclosed find...--...for yeari subscriber____ You can subscribe for one, two, three or Ssend 50 cents and have five years good readinj ZINE, for the money, ever published. Addrcese Subscription Dept. MAXWELl 14 If you wish to have THE HIOMEMAKE] piec of paper for name and addrese, and enclos TO THE LAME te ans-w. waented boLa. Others imitate our 1M4 styi - we 1884 a d r e .O r's r Iateyo "'Oco501 LaTESU" oerso Oxford ties, witAhur alteratioll-open back, no DA-ig-no exer tion t r walk-perJect ankle and instepI Cut this out and send to-day and we v ill tell. OLD WAY you how to get onefree. Give shortage. E. L. O'Connor Mfg. Co., 1271 B'way, N. Y. PAINT WITHOUT OIL. Remarkable Discoverv That CutsDownz the Cost of Pain. seventy-five Per cent. Free Trial Package and Big Book Telling All About Paints and Pain--... aking Are M1aiied Free Lo Everyoue %% ho % l it es A. L. Rice. a prominent manufacturer, of Adams, N. I., has dibcovered a process of making a new kind of paint without the use of il. He calls it Powdrpaint. It comes to you a dry powder, and all that is required is cold. water to make a paint weather-proof, fire-proof and as durable as oil paint. For many pur poses it is much better than oil paint, and is. indispensable to every property owner. It adheres to any surface, wood, stone or brick. spreads and looks like oil paint, yet costs only one-fourth as much. Write to Mr. A. L. Rice, Manufacturer, 36& North St., Adams, N. Y., and he will send you a free trial package, together with color card and his valuable book on painting, all free. This book is necessary to all who use paint. It lets you into the secret of paint making, exposes fake paints, tells you how to get the best results from paint for different purposes, and shows you how you can save and make a good many dollars. Write to-day, and the book, free trial of paint, etc., will be sent you without any cost by return mail. FRZEE BASEBALL OUTFIT!! e YOUR EXACT SIZE q EIRT. handsome gray fianuel.with broad shoul ders, full at arms, very Ion~ three button front- dougfO sewed, shapely and durable. . , PAN-%TS. Padded or upad ded (as you wish) double and triple sewedvery strong. Pad ded pants thoroughil te on hipsad h bet CA--Co egeSty1e. Eight piece top, long visor. BELT. New style, bright colored, strong, has patent nickel bnckle. BOYS, Se yow address for onlysa packages of BLUINE tosellforusat10 cents a pacage. Return our SZ40 received from the sale and we will immediately senJ you this splendid baseball out fit,guaranteedtogit andto give complete satisfaction. Eveg sifOibtf E PREPAID. EXTRA PREMIUM. y threelettersyouwant made large, of felt, foryour shirt front, sentfree, with the suitif you return ourmoney withinloday BLUIT E MFG. CO 2U1 Old BelA4l Firm 143 M St., concord Juneton, Mass. . S "Modern Furnace Heating" tells how to select and run a good furnace-how to set it up yourself and how you can buy THE LEADER No. 45 steel Furnace for 49. It hestsa* chrchburns any fel; has a bt'cr~ fire box and is strong and durable. I~ (Other sizes for other work). Write to-day for our book-it will pay you.-~"~ Hess Warming & Ventilati opany, 744 Tacoma Buildina,)bag .Canjiaw.-aLot of Ueo If you are interested in those things we'd lke to send you ournew book about ELECTRIC REek snd the -nELECTRIC """#.... Str hna mimilon and a quarter of them are inuoand several hundred thousand farmers say thtthey are the best investment they ever made. Te'lsave you more money, more work, give bet. ter service and greater satisfaction than any other metal wheel made-because They%'e Made Better. By every test they are the best. Spokes united to the hub. If they work loose, your money bace. Don't buy wheels nor wagon until you read our book. It may save you many dollars and it's free. ELECTRIC WHEEL C0., Box 263 Quinoy, I1s. ELECTRIC That Way from Mere IgnoranCe of s of Health Is Life Worth Living ?" epends on your health." ? If you are sick it is iw of heailthi has been violated. Inexorable Judge, and Her Laws are Broken Those Laws. n them too soon. a them all at once. ow, and every month. 140 Fisher Building, Chicago, for one whole lapazine, and read the Department "Health "outandIean al aoutNature's Laws of and you will enjoy, many years of Life and been dead and buried-or maybe cremated. so much matter. It's the dyn part that ful bodyguard to kick old nGrm Death," l of time. Get your "pointers on trainmng" on Out of your paper, you can send in your rate piece of pap~er. )R 10 CENTS F'oreign Addresses, 25c. Per Year me and address on lines below. and send us laxwell's Homemaker Magazine every State subscription. State whether a new or old lve ears at 10 cents for each year. Better corning to you. This is the BEST MAGA 'S HOMEMAKER MAGAZINE, 05 Fisher Building, CHICAGO. Ill. IMAGAZINE sent to fnends, use a separate