Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1908 — Farm and Garden [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Farm and Garden

MANAGING POSTS. Easy Methods of Putting, Them In or Taking Tham Out of tha Ground. One of the farmer’s problems Is how to look after the many poets which he has need of in keeping up fences, etc. While experiences differ, it is safe to. say that white cedar poles last longer than any other kind. White oak posta are also good. It is said that posts put Into the ground tops downward will outlast those that are set tops upward. This is due, so it is surmised, to the fact that they abeorb water from the earth when they are set in the natural position, but do not absorb It when they are reversed. If the end of a post Is allowed to soak in liquid tar or Is treated with creosote, it will last mnch longer than It would ordinarily. When It is necessary to draw a post out of the ground, it may be accomplished with little dlf-

\ Acuity by the use of a team. A chain should be fastened about the stump, allowing a good length to the chain. The chain should be a stout one, especially if large posts which are firmly set are to be taken out. When stumps or posts are to be removed, spring is the best time to do the work, as the ground is then moist add the post comes out more easily. Sometimes when boundaries are to be moved, fields changed in outline or new fences erected a great many posts must be removed in a very short time, and unless some mechanical device were adopted for hastening the work it would take quite a long time.

Of the many post pullers now Ip use perhaps the one here shown is the most serviceable. It should be made of an old buggy axle or any other old piece of iron of about that size and used as shown. With this tool one man will pull more posts in a day than with any other tool the writer ever heard of, and two men with two of the tools can easily remove the largest telephone or telegraph poles.

Posts may be driven with speed and economy on many farms if well sharpened and the right method is followed. A real post driver is one of the most easily made things and one of the most useful that a farmer can get up. Uprights are bolted across to a sled, or a rough plank sled may be made. The standards may be twelve or fifteen feet high. To them is bolted a crossbar which supports the hoist for the weight. For this a block of iron or lead weighing not less than twenty-five pounds must be obtained, and it must have a staple or ring in it so it may be lifted. The post is placed where it is to be driven and the weight lifted and allowed 1 6 fall on it. A little practice will enable one to drive posts in soil that seems too hard. The rig is useful also in putting down driven wells. To drive a well an inch and a quarter pipe is preferred. The lengths should not be over six feet. The first pipe to be driven must have a point of iron or steel. Any blacksmith who is an expert at welding can readily make a point Bolid in the end of the pipe and then bore numerous quarter inch holes in it for the first eighteen inches of its length above the point. Before driving a coupling must be screwed down tight and fast on the thread that is to connect it to its mate, so the thread may not be Injured; also on top of this coupling must always rest a block of lead or seasoned hickory to receive and distribute the concussion. The pipe is driven the same as a post, another length being attached as fast as one is sunk in the ground. One rule must never be forgotten—each length of pipe must be threaded so long

that It screws into the coupling and rests (butts, they call it) on the end of the pipe beneath It This prevents splitting the coupling and leaky joints. Do not throw away old fenceposts just because the ends in the ground have rotted away. You can patch these out and the posts will last as long as new ones. Take a piece of an ordinary post two feet long and smooth down one end with an ax so as to fit on to the end of the post, which should likewise be smoothed down. Now get a half dosen spikes and nail the piece to the post Reverse the post, leavlng-t&e patched end at the top.

HOMEMADE POST DRIVER.

POST PULLER.