Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 January 1869 — Perserving Fence Posts. [ARTICLE]

Perserving Fence Posts.

It is a weil known fact tliat tlie decay of "wood is chiefly owing to the presence of albuminous or nitrogenized substances contained within it. As these substances go into decomposition, as they rapidly do, they induce decay among the my/e solid'part icles of carbon. Various ways have been resorted to for coagulating this aihujnen as a means to secure the preservation of wood. But all methods that have been resorted to are too expensive to be employed in the preservation of fence posts. * y Ship builders have a method of preparing timber, which is not expensive, and which might perhaps bo employed with profit, by farjners in preparing fence posts. They work out the lumber A to about the size that is required, and then immerse it in' water for several weeks or months. The water gradually dissolves ont and washes away the nitrogenized or albuminous ! matter, and thus effects the preservation of the wood. The question arises, cannot such a course be profitably practiced in relation to #?nce {torts, by farmers who live in the vitality of a pond or stream of water? We have heard farmers who came from the East, say that fence posts do not last as long here as they did there. If this is the fact, the cause may’ b« attributed to -the different j aramthey are. got to market.

In ninny parts of New England and we presume in New York :Aud Pen usyl van in,- e--d«r posts are rafted down long rivers, and are often in tlie wufef severalweeks before they are seasoned; while here, they are wiled up to season, as soon as they are ■ CUt x Doubtless th< best way to <ret rid of the albuminous mnt- | ter would be to entirely iinmorse tlie posts in water, by putting weight* on them* and • it-would appear that running' Water is preferable to that J which is still, since the matter Lwould be washed aWnv as soon r T . f . . as it had snaked out, — rrau'iv j Fcti'hv.r, j Usi; of tub IlAßttucW. —At a I recent meeting of t he 1 Herkimer ! county (N. Y. ) Farmers’ (Tub, Hon. Josiah Shull said he “bei lieved the views of many, in regard to the harrow,, as an excellent implement, to mellow aud pulverize heavy soils, would iu time be changed. Upon such soils he thought tlie har- | row more effectually packed | tlie earth than to pass over the ground with a roller, since the packing of the ground was deeper down just where the roots of plants felt its deleterious influence. If a harrow was to be used at all, it should have a square chisel-shaped tooth. The old pointed, wedgedUsbapetb tooth was a perfect nuisance, | and a harrow having such teeth | could not he compared in efliI cieney to the modern cultivators j which left tlie ground loose and | mellow, and just in tint right ! condition for a good seed bed. j lie spoke of the Morgan harrow i with its chisel-shaped teeth, as {a great improvement, and not !to be compared with the bari rows in general use.

Corn Foddbu. —Lyman Cajl of East Durham 1\ 0., writes to the Canada Farmer that he keeps a dairy of twenty-six cows, the milk of which is disposed of at a cheese factory; -that last June he sowed an acre of corn in drills, and commenced cutting and feeding to the cows daily the first of July. When the September rains came on, he omitted the corn feeding four days, and the result was a diminution of 52 pounds of milk per day. The corn feeding was again resumed, and in four days the cows gave their custom ary quantit y of milk. The increased flow -of milk doubly paid the cost of the food given.

Harness Blacking .—The Rural Yorker gives the following as the method of making the English .patent harness blacking, which is commended for keeping leather soft, and giving it a good polish: It is made by dissolving together over a slow fire three ouuees of turpentine, two ounces of white wax, then add one ounce of ivofv-black aud Jone drachm, of indigo, to be well pulverized and mixed together. When the wax atid turpentine are dissolved, add the ivoryblack and indigo, and stir till cold. Apply very thin, and brush afterwards.

Killing T ices, —A correspondent of the Country Gentleman says that if a sheep or calf is covered with a rubber or leather spread, or thick blanket and a tobacco smoke be made under this covering, every tick and nit will be destroyed in half an hoar or less. —After the horse is .nine years old, it is said that a wrin-* kle comes on the eyelid at the upper corner of the lower lid, ■and every year thereafter he has one well-defined wrinkle for each year over nine. If for instance, a horse has three wrinkles, he is twelve, if four, he is thirteen, etc. 'V ’6 ,

~ A farmer near Mattoon, Illinois,’ raised's,ooo bushels of corn, 2,000 lmshels of potatoes, 1,200 bushels of oats, and a good deal of other “truck ” past season, and paid less than for lasor. fS / . _ : 1 _Y —The lire atoek trade of Chicagq in accounted to i $65,0p0,000,