2o8 Journal oj Agriculture. [ii April, 1910. 



less than 4 in. in diameter. It is important that the strut should not be 

 placed too near the top of the pest. The result of placing the strut too 

 high is to lift the post out of the ground when the wire is strained. The 

 strut should not be lower than half way between the top of the post and 

 the ground. 



When the posts are more than 10 ft. apart, droppers are required, one 

 dropper for spaces up to 17 ft., two droppers for spaces from 16 ft. to 

 ■22 ft., and three for spaces from 22 ft. to 33 ft. Three droppers are the 

 maximum number advisable no matter how big the span. It seems better 

 in practice to have an uneven number of droppers between the posts so 

 that a dropper may come exactly in the centre. Wooden droppers of 2 in. 

 X I in. hardwoqd, ^3 ft. 9 in. long, are secured to the plain wires with 

 staples which pass over the wire through a hole in the dropper and are 

 then clinched on the opposite side of the dropper ; they are to be tied to 

 the barbed wire with No. 12 gauge galvanized tying wire which is to pass 

 through a hole in the dropper about i| in. from, the top of it. Metal 

 droppers of plain or crimped wire may be used in place of hardwood 

 droppers. These are secured to the wires with loops and clamps and are 

 supplied with the droppers. There are also other forms of metal droppers 

 which make very satisfactory fences and rec(uire verv little labour to fix, 

 no loops, staples, &c., being necessary to secure them. 



The wire netted fence should preferably have 5 wires, including one 

 galvanized barbed wire firmly fixed in a groove bored in the top of the 

 posts and secured with two 2\ in. nails to each post. Another way of fix- 

 ing the barbed wire to the top of the posts is with No. 12 gauge galvanized 

 tying wire which is to pass through a hole in the post about 2 in. from 

 the top. The barbed wire is not essential where no other stock but sheep 

 are grazed; but for all other stock, it cannot be dispensed with. The other 

 four wires are No. 8 or 9 gauge steel galvanized or black wires spaced at 

 the following distances from the ground : 12 in., 24 in., 36 in., and 43 in. 

 The plain wire is secured to the outside of the posts with i in. galvanized 

 staples, or ^ in. holes may be bored through posts 2 in. from the out- 

 side edge and wires tied on with No. 12 gauge wire. The barbed wire is 

 thus not in line with the plain wares, being in the centre of the posts while 

 they are on the outside. All the wires to be thoroughly strained. The 

 wire netting of the desired gauge, width and mesh — 17 gauge, 42 in. 

 wide, and \\ in. mesh is recommended — is to be erected so that the straight 

 selvedge is at the top. Great care must be taken in straining the netting. 

 Six in. of the netting should be placed without bending under the ground 

 (a trench the recpiired depth having previously been dug) so that the top 

 of the netting can be fastened to the third wire from the ground, to which 

 it is secured with 24 clips to each chain length ; the netting is also secured 

 to the bottom w.ire with 16 clips to each chain length. The bottom 6 in. 

 of the netting may be tarred by dipping the roll to the required depth in a 

 pot of boiling tar to which a proportion of kerosene has been added. 



Specification for a 33 ft. Span. 



Excavating. — The ground to be excavated to a depth of 2 ft. for 8 in. x 

 4 in. or 7 in. x 3 in. split posts, spaced -^t^ ft. centre to centre ; every fifteenth 

 hole to be 3 ft. deep for 10 in. diameter straining posts. Holes for 12 in. 

 diameter corner posts to be 3 ft. 6 in. deep, and for 15 in. diameter gate 

 posts 4 ft. deep. A trench 6 in. deep to be dug outside of fence for wire 

 netting. All earth put back round posts to be well rammed and trench filled 

 in when netting is fixed. 



