924 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



RAILING AND POSTS OF WOOD 



Fences of metal, in rods, bars, or wire, are frequently Iielil up by posts 

 and rails of wood. It is difficult to find a substitute fur wood at reason- 

 able cost. Wooden posts may be given preservative treatment to prolong 

 tiieir period of usefulness and to increase value. This is now done on a 

 large scale. 



iiR'nt. hilt rather as a makeshift for teni])orary service 

 only. 



Ifiinij^ M pim 



ORNAMENTAL KATIlKk THAN USKFUL 



Rustic fences are buijtin many styles, but most of them are intended to be ornamental. In must in- 



s is not the main purp 

 y tJUilUers ot fences ot tins kind. the rustic tence is often reaiiy made in factories. 



and all-iiii])oitaiu unit <if fencing material. It still occu- 

 pies a conspicuous ])lace, but has lost some of its popu- 

 larity, llie rail is split from timber, and the regulation 

 length is eleven feet, but variations in length are many. 

 Rail-si)littint,' was a common occupation in early times. 

 Farmers mauled the rails with which they enclosed their 

 fields. The splitting was done with mauls, iron wedges, 

 and wooden gluts ; and a strong, industrious man, when 

 he had good timber already cut into suitable lengths, 

 could split 400 or 500 rails a day. Champions had rec- 

 ords as high as 1,000 rails a day; but such a number was 

 impossible except under the most favorable circumstances. 

 The rail fence is usually constructed with zig-zag panels, 

 the pattern being known as a "worm" fence or "Virginia" 

 fence, the first name being due to the resemblance of the 

 The log fence, or that made of logs, poles, and brush line to the path of a crawling worm. 



in combination, was formerly more common than it is Rails have varied much in size, according to timber 



now. It differed only slightly 



from the common brush fence. 



It might last a year or two longer 



if the destroying agent was decay 



alone. It was often easier to roll 



logs, trunks, ami branches to- 

 gether and build a fence of them 



to enclose a lield than to bring 



them together in heaps and rid 



tile '''rotlnd of their presence bv stances other kinds of fence could be built for less money, hut cheapness is not the main purpose held 

 ''^ f^ .^ in view by builders of fences of this kind. The rustic fence is often n ' 



burning. .\ week of constant at 

 tention might be necessary to rid the ground of a group and region. During the Civil War, lines of walnut fence 

 of log heaps by burning, but when rolled to the margin in Indiana were purchased by gunstock manufacturers, 

 to form a fence, the logs were out of the way. Some and it is said that those rails averaged the equivalent of 

 fences were built of stum])s juilled from the ground and fifteen board feet per rail. .\ mile of that fence repre- 

 sented enough 

 timber to saw 

 75,000 feet of 

 lioards. The 

 staked and rid- 

 ered fence re- 

 c[uired a little 

 mor(_'. Enor- 

 mous quantities 

 of timber have 

 been mauled 

 into rails in 

 some of the 

 fore sted re- 

 gions, w here 

 w o o d w a s 

 c h e a |i , fields 

 small and 

 farms numer- 

 ous. The West 

 Virginia Con- 

 servation Com- 

 m i s s ion esti- 

 mated that, 

 from the earli- 

 e s t settlement 



their roots all 

 turned in one 

 direction. Such 

 were more 

 c o m m on in 

 northern pine 

 regions than 

 elsewhere, be- 

 cause ]) i n e 

 s t u m p s arc 

 easily j) u 1 1 e d 

 fro m t h e 

 g r o u n d and 

 they retain 

 their roots 

 many years. A 

 structure 1 i k e 

 ihat is some- 

 times known as 

 a Canada fence 

 because c o m - 

 mon in the pine 

 regions of 

 ( anada. 



The fence 

 rail was the 

 ever- present 



32x57 



Scale 



4870£7-- 



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SCALE 





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IS 'IHIS TOO l;uOD FOR FENCES? 



They figure tbat enough wood is in these two cars of logs to make two-thirds of a mile of plank fence, 

 but that the lumber will be of a grade too good for fencing. That is a matter on which opinions may 

 differ. The best white pine of New England was not considered too good for fencing. These logs are 

 Douglas fir. 



