926 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



ground where the common worm fence will not stand. It 

 is known as a "swede" fence, so named from its resem- 

 blance to an old military contrivance built of spikes 

 called "Swedish feathers," and intended to check attacks 

 of cavalry. In building the swede fence one end of the 

 rail rests on the ground while the other end is elevated 

 at an angle of thirty or forty degrees and is supported 

 on stakes which cross each other like the letter X. 



Various patterns of paling and picket fences are in 

 use, in some of which the pickets are held by nails, in 



Photograph by Courtesy o/ the HarttnannSandcrs Comf^any 



THE PERGOLA'S FINISHING TOUCHES 



Happy surroundings tend to convert idle moments into years of pleasant 

 memories and the pergola has helped transform many barren spaces 

 into spots of charm and beauty. 



Others they are woven with wire ; and in a few of the 

 old cypress picket fences of the South, wooden pegs were 

 used in place of nails. In some instances it has been 

 found that the peg was the better fastener, for it remained 

 sound after nails of the same age had been destroyed by 

 rust. The ])ickct fence involves a catch problem in 

 geometry which some of the old-time pedagogues thought 

 quite interesting, and they liked to put it up to their 

 advanced pupils thus : "Prove that more pickets are re- 

 quired for a mile of fence on level ground than for a 

 mile up and down hills." The pupil who could prove 

 the positive side of the proposition and round out his 

 reasoning with the formal and classic quad erat demon- 

 strandian, always received one hundred per cent in his 

 grade in mathematics. 



Every species of wood in the United States which 

 attains sufficient size, has done service as fence rails, 

 either after being split or in the form of round poles; 

 but not one species in twenty is satisfactory for split 

 rails, crude and common as such rails are. A wood has 

 generally been considered defective as a fence rail pros- 

 pect unless it could be split easily and was resistant to 



decay. Relatively few woods possess both of these 

 qualities in the desired degree. 



It is not practicable to make a list of rail timbers to 

 include all the good and exclude all the bad. It depends 

 largely upon the region. Where white oak and chestnut 

 were plentiful, rail splitters used few others in former 

 times ; but some regions had neither of these. Black 

 walnut was more durable than oak or chestnut, but its 

 range was limited to certain districts, and chiefly to rich 

 land; consequently, only here and there were walnut 

 fences possible. Yellow poplar splits well, but it is 

 brittle, breaks easily, and is prone to decay when exposed 

 to the weather, and its use as rails was restricted by a 

 prejudice against it even in regions where trees were 

 plentiful and of splendid size. Many pine rails were 

 made formerly, and a few are still made, but unless the 

 sapwood is excluded, the pine rail rots quickly. White 

 ash splits in a beautiful manner, and before the wood 

 became valuable in a commercial way, much splendid 

 ash timber was mauled into rails. All cedar with highly 

 colored heartwood makes good fence rails ; but only a 

 few cedars are large enough for splitting, after the saj)- 

 wood has been excluded ; and some cedar splits none too 

 well. Millions of rails were made of southern red cedar, 

 and trainloads of such rails were brought up many years 



CATALPA FOR FENCE POSTS 



This cut shows a small catalpa tree just attaining size fitting it for fence 

 posts. It is one of the handsomest trees of our forests and its large leaves 

 and showy flowers cause it to be planted oftener for ornament than f4r 

 posts. However, it serves both purposes well, and is widely used. 



