42 



111 the thickly-settlecl States, where tlie farms are divided into ten or 

 fifteen acre fields, the cost of fencing is enormous. Here there is used 

 either wire, board, or postand-rail fences, and their cost varies in differ- 

 ent situations in proportion to the cost of materials, and these differ in 

 quality. I have made an estimate of the cost of fencing in the interior 

 farming-districts of Pennsylvania, with the purpose of showing the 

 comparative cost of different kinds and qualities of fence, as well as to 

 point out how enormous the cost is of making and keeping up either 

 kind ; and the calculation is equally applicable to most of the settled 

 States of the Union. And it may be remarked, too, that this expense is 

 annually increasing with the cost and scarcity of material. 



The estimate is made of the cost of eighty rods of fence, which, of 

 course, will be modified and altered by the circumstances which sur- 

 round each particular locality. 



Eighty rods, locust posts and chestnut rails, viz : 



132 posts, mortised posts, at 70 cents !|!)2 40 



655 chestnut rails, pointed, at 11 cents 72 05 



Setting 132 panels, at 15 cents 19 80 



Hauling and distributing materials 4 00 



188 25 



Alike fence made with oak or chestnut posts would cost $59.40 less, 

 the difference being in the expense of the post. 



Board fence, the two lower boards being 6 inches wide, and the three 

 Tipper ones 5 inches wide, and flat on top 4 inches, each post stripped 4 

 inches wide, viz : 



160 locust posts, at 20 cents $32 00 



3,733 feet inch boards, at $22 82 12 



Setting 80 panels, at 15 cents 12 00 



Nails 4 00 



'Hauling and distributing 4 00 



134 12 



Eighty rods of wire fence, the wire being Ko. 9, galvanized, 16.5 feet 

 to the pound, viz : 



2 large braced locust posts, at $1 $2 00 



78 locust posts, at 20 cents 15 60 



160 strips, 4 feet long, 1x3 inches 3 00 



400 pounds galvanized wire, at 10 cents 40 00 



400 wire staples, at 1 J cents 5 00 



Setting posts and putting up wire 8 00 



Hauling and distributing 4 00 



77 60 



The two strips of pine in each panel serve the purposes of stiffening 

 the fence, preventing cattle from running against it, and, if notched at 

 the corners, will keep the strands of wire in their places. 



The farmer who cultivates one hundred acres of land must have at 

 least one thousand rods offence, according to the present system.^ This 

 fencing, if of locust posts and chestnut rails, would cost $2,353.12 ; 

 of oak or chestnut posts, $1,610.62 5 of locust posts and boards, $1,676.50; 

 of galvanized wire, $970. 



If the annual interest of these suras be computed, and then the esti- 

 mation be made that the average durability of the fence will not exceed 

 sixteen years, it will be found that the heaviest tax paid by the farmer 

 is that of making and keeping up fences. 



While fences may not be entirely dispensed with, it will be found 



