| Show OLD TIME tiie FENCE 0 stone walls split rails and hedges rapidly being discarded by farni farm owners MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS essential that ends and cornelis corncie be erected firm and solid posts should be large enough to give needed strength prepared ty tile the united states stales department rt ot of agriculture Aerl culture of 0 till nil the changes wrought in ili the farming industry during the last cen t tucy fury none Is more noticeable than that in fencing say s y specialists of the llie united states stale q devai department of agriculture all over the eastern L states there are hundreds of miles of stonewall fences which are monuments to the patience and thoroughness of earlier generations overlapping this territory and extending west are found fences of split ralls rails with their familiar familier weeds and berry beri y bushes in the singles angles while still farther west ivest where there was neither wood nor 1 tone stone are seen osage orange find ther other hedges these are natural plo pio dictions duct ions of the time ahne the fanner usually finds today that barbed wire or woven milre fence will best serve his ends for new construction and at the same time cost least barbed valre Is used on large stock stock ranges il where liere the loss of one or two animals through wire cutting is not serious i but for the farmer with line fine horses or a selected herd berd of ca cattle t I 1 targe urge mesh woven wire fences are coming more into use ends and corners the manner in which the fence Is erected has much to do with its tco fee the ends and ana corners are by far the most important elements of a fence it Is essential that they remain firm and solid in order to hold the fence rigid the first thing to consider Is placing the corners tile the posts used should be large enough to give sufficient strength they should be set deep enough to prevent heaving by the action of frost they should be braced from each direction of tension by a bitout rall rail about 12 feet long and concrete posts are on off the market but a great many farmers cling to wooden ones the line posts should be approximately 4 inches in diameter various idoo ds are used including clu dill osage orange locust red cedar mul verry and burr oak they should be thoroughly seass sied and the bark removed find to 0 o get the longest life should be dipped in creosote at a tem 1 4 99 attaching the wire after it has been stretched pera ture of about 2 20 degrees long enough for the preservative to penetrate the wood these posts fire are best set ret in the spring after the Is out and when the ground is soft on level ground they may be driven will a maul but in depressions should be anchored n down by 2 by 4 cross pieces kisi bilked ked ou on the bottom of the post before betting the distance between posts depends on the location of the fence and the numbers and kinds of s tock stock to be turned the average in held field fences being about 20 feet to a wo woven venIre fence properly it Is necessary to have a woven wire stretcher a single wire vire stretcher to be used in attaching the file fence to the end posts n pair of wire cutters a barbed wire stretcher a splicing tool and hammers tor for fe stapling and fastening tile the wire barbed and woven wire may bo be unrolled by attaching the reel to tile back of a wagon or by running a bar through the core and drawing it along with a horle hone stretching the wire after the alre vire la is unrolled it should be drawn up to the title line of posts and freed frn fr rr n adhering tra trash Ii the are then atti atta clied and in llie file line alris eirv drawn until they thew are arc so taut that ahat they can just be pressed some may be allowed tor for uneven ground in fastening the wire on the posts the line wire be kept as nearly horizontal as 03 po possible sible and allowed to follow small irregularities in the ground round tile the stople staples i should f per mit fall horizontal horizon Cial movement of ft tile the wire allowing alling tile weight of 0 the fence to tc come directly on the corner comer posts thus taking care of contraction and sion blondee Blo ndue due to weather meather conditions ji A woven wire fence Is not complete with out a strand of barbed wire above it tills prove le ic stock from reaching and it iowa n |
