58 PROTECTION OF PLANTS, 1920-21 



thousand of them will l)c needed in forming the fence all round the area. Pur- 

 chased stakes cost on the average 20 cents each. This would mean an initial 

 cost of from $350.00 to $450.00. 



The second item of cost to consider is that of fixing the posts in position. 

 The farmer will say : ''That costs m^thing : I do the work myself with the help 

 of my son." But while the farmer and his son are thus occupied, they cannot 

 be doing other work, at which it must be remembered they might be earning 

 $2.50 or $3.00 per day. If the construction of the whole fence occu)3ied the two 

 men for seven days, then we must add to the cost of the material the sum that 

 the two men would have earned had the}^ hired out their labou'i' : from $35. 00 

 to $42.00. 



The cost of the posts and their installation will amount to from $400.00 

 to $500.00, this not inclitding the cross rails. If the fence is to be of wire, the 

 cost of this would be about the same as if rails were used. With a wire felxce, 

 posts are used singly. They mu,st be well made in order to serve their purpose 

 well, and be somewhat larger in size than is necessary when rails are used. The 

 price of such posts would be from 25c to 35c each, so that the total cost for all 

 the stakes — -not hicluding cost of installation — -would be from $250.00 to $350.00 



This expenditure for fresh posts will, in general, have to be repeated eveiy eight 

 or ten years, but if the posts have undergone anj^ suitable treatment, especially'" 

 that with creosote, they will last from twenty to twenty-two years, according 

 to the method employed. 



Economy in Material 



I am told that there is not necessarily any waste of material in cutting out 

 posts. The tops of trees are used for this purpojse, when trees are cut for firing, 

 or in making a clearing. Every farmer knows how this is done. When a fence 

 needs renewal, he goes over his wood lot and looks out particularly for a suitable 

 cedar tree, and when such a one is found, it is cut down. Sometimes two or 

 three posts are obtained from a single tree ; so that it will be at once realised 

 what a number of trees are required to give two thousand posts. After a few 

 years it will generally be found that the quantity of cedar available is very 

 •limited, or that thei-e is none at all. The timber is in such demand that most 

 farmers cut down and sell their cedars. 



Under such circumstances the farmer would either content himself with 

 using materia} less durable than cedar wood, or he might purchase cedar, or other 

 hard wood, from outside. 



If the farmer finds himself obliged to use posts of a species less durable than 

 cedar, he will, no doubt, be able to obtain sufficient material from the trees cut 

 down yearly for firewood. Let us consider again the case of the mia previously 

 referred to, who, we assumed, is obliged periodically to replace all his fence posts, 

 and who needs at least two thousand stakes for setting up his fence. To get 

 these two thousand stakes it would be necessary for him to cut down such a 

 number of trees, that the refuse left after obtaining the posts would provide 

 all the firewood he needed for a lo«ng time. If the material needed is obtained in 

 the ordinary clearing work oh the holding, the surplus wood not required at 



