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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1958-07-03, Page 3Fence Mending Something: there is that doesn't mend a fence as much as it used to, and I am glad. The great change in the bovine category has left me free of fence worries, both in and out, and for some years now there has been no demand on me totake the old pail of staples and hike out in the spring mud to mend the pale. Time was that everybody had cattle, including us, and fences had to be kept up. But nowadays the regulations, restrictions, and regimentation have had their effect, and hardly anybody keeps a cow unless he can keep a. lot of them. I got to thinking about fences this week when I had to peel a few spruce poles to, fix my grape arbor. Peeling fence posts was a tedious chore, and by spring al- most anyfarm would have a cord of them peeled and pointed and ready. You'd have more if you had a .new fence in mind. Pointing them was a two-man. job if you had two men, One would hold the post up on the block, turning it a bit after each swipe, and the other would swing the ax, You just stood;' there and swung the ax until the poles were all pointed, and the other fellow picked them up and held them and laid them down again. You were just like a machine for hours on end. A good man, with a sharp ax and a sure stroke, could point posts so they looked as if a machine did it, too. Then, you'd load the pusts on a drag, along with the patent wire tightener and a reel of wire, the pail of staples les and P your tools, and the horse would take you to work. There would be downed trees across the fence, wires broken down by hunters, poles that had given up, and sometimes whole stretches laid flat by the snow, You had to get the entire fence back in shape before the grass was green and the cows got on it. Perhaps nobody has ever paused to think that page after - page of ancient legislation and decisions without end have been repudiated by present-day fenc- ing - which consists sometimes of pushing small metal rods in the ground and suspending a single wire' on insulators. The animals respect the quick com=' Mand of the low voltage and keep in bounds. This is inter- esting, for cdws .would jump a six-foot fence' cf woven wire, but they keep their distance with. an electric fence. However, once there was a wise and just jurist, a thought- ful judge on a dignified bench, and he sat, without laughing, during a long and tedious liti- gation over how strong a fence must be. He weighed the testi-. enony and arguments, and hand- ed down the magnificent deci- Sion that a fence, in addition to other established qualities, must be strong enough for a man to lean on. Leaning on fences, he held, was an integral part of the American heritage, an unalien- able right the courts are bound to recognize and protect. The electric, fence, I submit, does not qualify in this respect, and therefore is.illegal and un- American. The man 'who takes 'Whets your sex or haven't you been told?' his citiznship seriously, and goes about leaning on electric fences, will find they are not lawfully made. Another interesting` decision had to do with the width of a fence. Another judge ruled that dimension is presumed, and that although the line between two farms has no geometrical prop• erties, the fence that denotes' it ,has substance and allowance must, 'be made for same, This sounds like so much lega- listic double-talk, until you rea- lize that the court was adjjudi-' eating the curious contrivance known as a "Virginia Fence." This was a post and rail barrier obviously invented in a state wnere labor was more prevalent than in Maine. It took a great deal more lumber, which had to be cut and shaped, And the fence zigzagged in such a man- ner that an-ner.that Yankee ship captains, when they had to tack into the wind for days without making any mileage, entered the simi- lar zigzagging in their logs as "made Virginia fence all day .."• Anyway, somebody built a Vir- ginia fence on the line, and his neighbor raised the good clues- tion of how much and you need to delineate an imaginary line. The judge allowed that a Vir-, ginia fence which staggered over ten feet of land was, in the fact and the law, of no greater judi- cial width than a strand of wire. It might look wider, but i was not so in the eyes of the court. How wide a • fence you can therefore erect is left for future deliberations, but probably the question will never come up. Certainly the Yankee stone wall has substance, too, and we must presume dimensions. Back in the forgotten laws of early days, the extent of fence statutes amazes. To settle all the varied squabbles that arose when the country was first being settled and fenced, legislators deliberated thoughtfully and courts sat tedious hours.- And law, custom, and usage built the fence into a farmer's urgencies until we got poems about it, and wise saws and pithy sayings, All leading, it seems, up to to the point where fences lapse into desuetude and nobody sharpens posts any more. Oh, a few but not as we used to in the spring, slapping the first hatch of blackflies and hoping to get the job done before 'the hay ran out. Chunking an iron bar into the mud to ream a hole, and then standing on the bunk of the drag to whack the post into place with a fence maul. ' There was a peculiar knack to drawing a wire taut, and then driving a staple -a knack that requires about, thirteen -agile hands. But the job could be done with "two, although you'd have to see it to believe it. And it might be'hard, in this day and age,. tostep out quickly and find a good fence -fixer, with Or with- out extra hands. I never cared muchformending fences, and I got all the peeling I.wanted fix- ing the grape -'arbor. -By John :Gould in. The Christian Science Monitor. Venice Menace - The world's "floating city'', Venice,, -may , soon find itself vanishing under the waters of its canal streets! Millions of termites have been •discovered feeding on the woodwork of several' score of houses and bridge's. The termites are said to be almost indestructible and pe- culiar to Venice, and so far no effective remedy has been found against them. Apart from the new menace, Venice was already finding it difficult to keep its head above the water as the foundations of many buildings are rapidly decaying. 8. Chief player 34. Nickel CROSSWORD 10. Horse 33. Spoil 11.. Hall 37. Sun god V PA /�J` C vehicle ��20. Wheeled 48. Luxurious fur is - 44. Container for 22. Type square liquids • I , ACROSS DOWN 23. Worthy of - 45. Fragrance respect 46, Tibetan monk 1 1. Sepulchre 1. Soft mineral 24. Soft drink 47. Foreboding � 6. Period of 2. Above 26. Chopping tool 48. Circleoftime 9. Animal's neck 26. Oriental 4. demi hair by the 28. Shorrten 29.20, Toy Near 31. Building addition :i2 Utter 8. Spill over '12. /p7rand- 13 Age 14. Chinese money 16. Cotton gauze 16 Crow s note 17. insects 18. Gang _ 19. Russian river 20. Topof a wave. 21.. Biblical character ,fid Old Dominion., state (ab.) 24. Da nee' step 27. Softens by steeping *8. Draft animals 35. Wine cash 26 70, Indian weight 37. Distance. around 40. Thickness 41. Public notice 42. Short -napped fabric 44. tide 48, Eaelamatton 49. .Lofty. mountains 63. First luau 164. Idlo.talk' • 62. Tree trunk 156. Not. many 57. Entirely I X68. Pillage 29. Persian coin 00. Author of The Raven" 1161, Remnant. 6. Trimmed 8. Spirited horse 7. Steer wild light 60. Laughing bird 61. Walk wearily 62. Goes down at l bridge 64. Opening. 1111®®? ®11®iO,®®®11 X111111:°:,. 111681111 1c Nett 1111 ®1111®®®11 ®1111ii::::;®1111:.::::11111111 ®11■■®111111® 1111 -11:1::i�®®11 111■11111.:::;111®: ®111111',==._ , ®1111:%'^:;:; 11®11 ®111111°;:.i�1111Miil111111 Answer esewliere on this :page. This slide rule helps farmers ,reduce soil loss from rainfa I. Embodying research data compiled over the last 30 years, the rule makes possible fast and reliable soil loss estimates right in the field. The rule is fed information concerning the .amount of rain, type of soil and soil cover, length of slope and other factors. These are given numerical values and a trained tech- nician can find the ' best combination of cropping system and conservation practices which meets the needs of a particular farm. TIILFAIZM FRONT JokilQieU., Feeding value is equally as important as tonnage per acre in determining' the stage at which grasses and legumes should be harvested for silage. M. F. Clarke of the Agassiz, B.C. Experimen- tal Farm, says that in general, mixtures in which red clover predominates should be har- vested for silage as soon as bloom becomes evident through-, out the field. Waiting until blooming is complete;- will in- crease tonnage slightly but at the expense of palatability and nutritive quality. If the legume content of a field is low then the stage to cut will be r'- 'ermined by the grasses. The ideal stage is at time of heading, to obtain good. quality with, satisfactory yield. Delaying harvest until bloom will sacrifice quality, although palatability will remain fair. Cut- ting grass when .seed is formed will lower both nutritive value and palatability considerably. * * * Storage procedure is another important aspect of forage man- agement. Immature grasses and legumes, while high in quality, present a storage problem be- cause of their very high mois- ture content. This is particularly true when tower silos are used.' Wilting in the swath to a mois- ture content of 65-75 per cent before storing is quite effective. However, when storing by the "direct cut" method, considera- tion might be given to the use of a conditioner. * * * Various conditioners have been tried at the Experimental Farm over the, past three seasons. Ex- cellent results have been ob- tained from the use of dried beet pulp added at the rate of 70-100 pounds per ton of fresh cut for- age. Initial cash outlay for beet pulp is quite high but this is offset in part by the fact that 70-75 per cent of the beet pulp is recovered when the silage is fed. * * * Sodium bisulphite added et the rate of 8 pounds per ton to early cut legume silage will ensure a pleasant smelling silage, Cost of this material at the recom- mended rate is in the neighbour- hood of one dollar per ton. This chemical does not .in any way increase feeding value and man- ufacturer's directions for .its application should be followed closely. * • * Silage conditioners are not re- quired when using horizontal or bunker type silos. In such silos. high Moisture content of forage .:serves as an aid to rapid air exclusion. * . * * In a four-year study with beef steers on permanent pasture at the Central Experimental Farm, .Ottawa, worthwhile higher ani- mal gains per acre were obtain- ed by adjusting the. rate 'of stocking to seasonal flush of pas- ture than on a "fixed rate of stocking throughout the pasture season. W. A. Jordan reports that an extra 87 pounds of animal, gain per acre was obtained by the adjusted method where pas- tures were stocked to capacity. during the flush of spring growth and the number of animals re- duced .. according to the subse- quent slower growth. No notice- able change in the pasture was observed under either method of grazing. * * y, These results indicate that ad- justed stocking may well be ad- visable where the highest pos- sible animal gains per acre are desired over a short period of time. However, it appears that for growing animals or animals intended for long keep, it would not be worthwhile. • * * Both the adjusted and fixed methods of stocking _a pasture have their advantages and dis- advantages. The main advantage of the adjusted method is that nearly all of the spring flush of grass is consumed at a time when it is most nutritious and thus greater animal gains per acre are realized. However, after the flush of growth, the extra ani- mals have to be either disposed of or placed on another pasture at a time when aftermath of supplemental annual crops are .not usually available. Stocking at a smaller fixed rate through- out the season results in lower gain per acre. In addition, much of the spring growth matures and decreases in nutritive value. However, this acts as a reserve during . the second half of the pasture season and thus dis- penses with the need for supple- mental pasture. Girls Married To Trees The crippling burden of mar- rying off a daughter is now re- lieved by law in Andhra, India. A new edict, recently sanctioned in this state, strictly forbids Hin- du fathers to provide their daughters, on marriage, with any sort of a dowry; even simple, in- expensive presents are not al- lowed. Anyone caught giving or ac cepting this former traditional offering is guilty of a criminal offence and can be jailed for six months. Previously, widespread obsery ance of husband -buying practices imposed great hardship in a country where the average an nual income works out at $71 a head. Dowries erred always on the side of generosity, for to offer something smaller than expec- tation . implied loss of taste and also degraded one's daughter . A relatively prosperous Hindu owning six acres of land was expected to contribute at least $750 to his son-in-law's family The gbds were supposed to be angry with those who, because of their poverty or for any other reason, kept their daughters single, The wretched girls them selves did not escape punishment Becauseof this, mothers in some areas quietly killed them at birth. In other families, where not a rupee existed to meet these crippling dowry demands, ` the girl's father would work as a slave for his son-in-law's family for a year or so. With three or four daughters to marry off, the roan could be ruined for life. However unattractive they were; these girls just had to be married off. Even though dis- figured or crippled, they ware not immune, But to appease their gods and save themselves from committing a mortal sin, the Hindus used to marry such unwanted girls to trees, That satisfied • the strict tenets of their caste. But now, under the new re- forms, it is hoped that all this will cease. Child marriages will probably end, too. Formerly, husbands were cheapest when bought young. And, having only the scantiest resources, many Hindus purchased a man for their daughter when he was just a babe in arms, Rain Of Frogs When it was officially reported from Budapest not long ago that many tiny frogs had rained. down on the city during a freak whirlwind and thunderstorm, some people in this country were either puzzled or sceptical. How could such a thing happen? Meteorologists have an answer. While many stories of living showers of frogs, fishes and oth- er creatures are exaggerated, it is a fact that very strong up- ward air currents do sometimes suck up caterpillars, worms, beetles and so on and then drop them from a watery sky. Professor J. Arthur Thomson, the scientist and naturalist, in- vestigated the phenomenon and reported: "There is no doubt that many different kinds of creatures, especially aquatic ones, can be lifted and trans- ported in a whirlwind and show- ered down elsewhere." Naturalist Edwin Way Teale tells of coming from a hotel in Chicago in the early 'thirties after a violent storm which had lasted for many hours. "The gutters were running with water and scattered across the wet pavement for several blocks around were tiny silver minnows," he reported. "No one could have scattered them by hand so widely. The only plaus- ible explanation was that the area had received a shower of minnows during the morning storm." The list of queer "rains" is endless. Only cats and dogs seem to be hissing. There have been "authentic" downpours of snails, turtles, snakes, mussels, toads, lizards and sprats. Sixty-five years ago a dense cloud was seen over a village in Cambridgeshire. It burst quite suddenly and millions of ants fell down. They covered the ground almost like a carpet and the astonished inhabitants crush- ed thousands at every step. A nineteenth-century record shows that a storm of pilchards fell on Glamorgan in 1859, hazel nuts in Dublin in 1863, hay in Monkstown in 1875, snails in Redruth in 1886 and caterpillars at Salins, in the Jura, in 1891. SAFETY FIRST Trailing Philadelphia by a run in the eighth inning, Detroit put the first two men on base and then elected to bunt. Ferris Fain, the daring young Athletic first sacker, plunged in, grab- bed the bunt, and threw to third. His throw eluded Pete Suder and the runner scored the tying run standing up. "Darn it, Ferris!" sputtered Connie Mack when the A's came into the bench. "I don't want you ever to try that play again!" Most of Mack's employees would have sat down and sulk- ed. Not the high-spirited Fain. "What did you want me to do with the ball?" he bellowed. "Eat it!" "Well, by golly!" Mack yelled right back. "It'd be a whole lot safer in your mouth!' UNDAYSCIIOOI LESSON By Rev. R. Barclay Warren B.A., B.D. A Spokesman for God 1 Samuel 3:10-20. Memory Selection: - Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. 1 Sam- 'nel 3:19. Samuel was the last of the great judges of Israel. Hissons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. (8:3). So the elders of Israel asked for. a king so that they might be like the other nations. Samuel, under divine direction, annointed Saul and thus began the long period of monarchial rule in Israel, The story of Samuel's child- hood and youth is unique. Be- fore his conception he was dedi- cated to God. While still a child he was taken to serve in the house of the Lord. Our lesson tells of the night when God re- vealed Himself to Samuel in a personal way. The first message which he was to convey for God was one of judgment upon the family of Eli the priest. Eli's sons had made themselves vile and he restrained them not. It is heartening to everyone when young people turnfrom their selfish, sinful, pleasure - seeking ways and become wit- nesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. One is not so surprised when the aged turn to thoughts of God. So often youth forget God. Solomon said, "Remember' now thy Cre- ator in the days of thy youth." Ecclesiastes 12:1. Samuel lived a great and fruitful lite. Though Saul became king, Samuel was still a spokesman for God. On the day of the coronation Sam- uel said to the people, "God for- bid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way." He coun- selled King Saul and repri- mended., him when he sinned. He anointed David to be hit successor. Saul, before hs last and fate- ful battle went to the witch of Endor and asked her to bring Samuel from the dead. The witch was astounded at what she saw and cried with a loud voice. She knew then that the inquirer was none other than King Saul who years before had ordered the destruction of those who practised witchcraft. Once more Samuel was spokesman fos God. He said that Saul and hli sons .would die on the morrow and Israel would be defeated. The influence of Samuel's lift is still counting for good. Some women don't park a cal - they abandon it. Upsidedown to Prevent Peeking BOON N1IA E/MCM ©F/OO DDD MOND MO2I17 um mum MO5 no min clunummmm M©©neihNum mum u® nura v®©E-r® r--I❑e M6EN MEOW COS ©►'M©IR MIDSUMMER YULE TREE -Stacking the grain in the ancient Penn- sylvania Dutch tradition is a curiosity. It comes out looking Like a Christmas tree. A demonstration of the art is one of the features of the Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Festival held at Kutz- town, Pa,