prior unused and conflicting patents involving itself in extensive litigation, but, sustained by the courts, soon gained control of almost the entire barb-wire business of the country. Nearly all wire-making companies are now running under license from the parent concern. The following is a list of the licensees of last year:

• Pittsburg Hinge Co.—Limited, Beaver Falls, Pa.
• H.B. Scutt & Co., Buffalo, N.Y.
• Hawkeye Steel Barb Fence Co., Burlington, Iowa.
• James Ayers and Alexander C. Decker, Bushnell, Ill.
• Indiana Wire Fence Co., Crawfordsville, Ind.
• Cedar Rapids Barb Wire Co., Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
• Cincinnati Barbed Wire Fence Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Cleveland Barb Fence Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
• Ohio Steel Barb Fence Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
• Edwin A. Beers & Co., Chicago, Ill.
• Crandal Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill.
• Chicago Galvanized Wire Fence Co., Chicago, Ill.
• Lyman Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill.
• Daniel S. Marsh, Chicago, Ill.
• Oscar F. Moore, Chicago, Ill.
• National Wire Co., Chicago, Ill.
• Herman E. Schnabel, Chicago, Ill.
• Aaron K. Stiles and John W. Calkins, Chicago, Ill.
• Thorn Wire Hedge Co., Chicago, Ill.
• Baker Manufacturing Co., Des Moines, Iowa.
• Superior Barbed Wire Co., DeKalb, Ill.
• Jacob Haish, DeKalb, Ill.
• Frentress Barbed Wire Fence Co., East Dubuque, Ill.
• Grinnell Manufacturing Co., Grinnell, Iowa.
• Janesville Barb Wire Co., Janesville, Wis.
• Iowa Barb Wire Co., Johnstown, Pa.
• William J. Adam, Joliet, Ill.
• Lock Stitch Fence Co., Joliet, Ill.
• Lambert & Bishop Wire Fence Co., Joliet, Ill.
• Alfred Van Fleet & A.H. Shreffler, Joliet, Ill.
• David G. Wells, Joliet, Ill.
• Southwestern Barb Wire Co., Lawrence, Kan.
• Arthur H. Dale, Leland, Ill.
• Union Barb Wire Co., Lee, Ill.
• Lockport Wire Fence Co., Lockport, Ill.
• Norton & DeWitt, Lockport, Ill.
• Iowa Barb Steel Wire Fence Co., Marshaltown, Iowa.
• Omaha Barb Wire Co., Omaha, Neb.
• H.B. Scutt & Co.—Limited, Pittsburg, Pa.
• Missouri Wire Fence Co., St. Louis, Mo.
• St. Louis Wire Fence Co., St. Louis, Mo.
• J.H. Lawrence & Co., Sterling, Ill.
• North Western Barb Wire Co., Sterling, Ill.
• Novelty Manufacturing Co., Sterling, Ill.
• Sandwich Enterprise Co., Sandwich, Ill.
• Robinson & Hallidie, San Francisco, Cal.
• The Hazard Manufacturing Co., Wilkes Barre, Pa.
• Worcester Barb Fence Co., Worcester, Mass.

When Glidden & Ellwood first began the sale of the Glidden fence, which was confined to the vicinity of DeKalb, they received 25 cents per pound for the barbed wire. Since then, as production has increased and the facilities for manufacturing have been multiplied and perfected, the price has gradually dropped, until now a farm can be well fenced for forty-five cents, or less, per rod, and to the incalculable advantage of the country over fencing by posts and boards, hedges or rails, as any one may see by a simple dollar and cent comparison of materials at his own door.

Barb-wire has done much for the city of DeKalb. It has built its fine business blocks and residences, and it has peopled it with industrious, thrifty citizens. It has made a home market for many of the products of the country 'round about. It should give a new name, "Barb City," to the bustling, busy town. There are three concerns now making barb-wire at this point. The one spoken of is the largest. Next is that of Jacob Haish, an extensive establishment, turning out an excellent wire, and the Superior, run by Mr. Hiram Ellwood, Mr. Glidden having a considerable interest in it.

Mr. I.L. Ellwood is the owner of some 2,600 acres of land in the vicinity of DeKalb. Much of this land is naturally low and wet. The proprietor, with his accustomed energy and intelligence, has set vigorously to work to reclaim it. To this end he has already laid eighty miles of tile. He last year expended nearly $15,000 in this work. His poorest land is rapidly becoming his most productive. Mr. Ellwood has also turned his attention somewhat to horse-breeding, and he is now the owner of a fine stud of draft-horses, the equal of many better-known establishments of the kind in the State. Of his drainage operations we hope to speak more in detail in a future number.

Mr. Glidden told the writer that his first trial of his fence with stock was not undertaken without some misgivings. But he thought to himself, "It will stop them, at any rate, whether it kills them or not." So he took down an old board fence from one side of his barn-yard, and towards night when his stock came up, turned them into the yard as usual. The first animal to investigate the almost invisible barrier to freedom was a strong, heavy grade Durham cow. She walked along beside the wires for a little put her nose out and touched a barb, withdrew it and took a walk around the yard, approached the wires again and gave the barbs a lap with her tongue. This settled the matter, and she retired, convinced that the new-fangled fence was a success.

Barb-wire is now sent from this country to Mexico, South America, and Australia. It is also being manufactured in England under American auspices.

Mr. Glidden, associating with himself a Mr. Sanborn, a young man of push and enterprise, has opened up an extensive cattle ranch in Potter and Randall counties, Texas. They have fenced with wire a tract thirty miles long by about fifteen miles broad, and have now upon it 14,000 head of cattle. Two twisted No. 11 wires were used for this fence, and the posts are the best that could be procured. The wire was taken 200 miles on wagons. The total cost of the completed fence was about $36,000.

Messrs. Glidden & Ellwood put up the first barb-wire ever used by a railway company—the Northwestern. So great was the caution of the company that the manufacturers built it themselves, agreeing to remove it if it proved unsatisfactory. The railway folks feared it would injure stock, the damages for which they would be forced to pay. It is needless to say that the fence was not removed. More than one hundred railway companies are now using the Glidden wire, and it stretches along many thousands of miles of track.

A Rambler's Letter.

I would like to call your attention to the fact that there is considerable cholera among swine in Dewey township, Ill., west from Joliet. Mr. Cooter lost about 130 hogs. Other farmers have suffered equally.

I have been looking over the stock in this part of the country and find it excellent, as a general thing. Many of the farmers are breeders of fine Hereford cattle. They also own first-class horses. Some of them whom I called upon would like to know the address of State Veterinary Surgeon Dr. Paaren, and I should be pleased if you will give it in The Prairie Farmer.[A] I have often thought, Why is it that so many sons of wealthy farmers leave their homes for the purpose of either studying in some classical college, to learn a trade, or to become book-keepers and clerks in mercantile business. I think if farmers would take more interest in agricultural papers, instead of having their children fooling away their time on novels or comic stories and pictures, it would be better for both old and young. Let the parents buy a microscope and let the young folks examine insects and fungi of all kinds, and let them write their experiences down in a book whenever there is