104 



to those of the ordinary hurdle. Six wires form a fence three feet eight inches 

 or four feet high, and the uprights should stand from three to four feet apart. 

 The wires are generally in lengths of ahout thirty or forty feet, scarcely a 

 quarter of an inch thick, and should he twisted securely together to connect 

 them. The top bar should be about an inch and a quarter by half an inch, 

 round at the top and flat underneath, and should be rivetted on to the top of 

 all the uprights, in order to keep them true and firm. 



This kind of fence has the advantage of being cheap, light, and good, 

 and is not easily put out of shape. The top bar, by its size and figure, 

 prevents the entanglement of cattle, as it is much readier seen by them than 

 those made of wire only, without the top bar. Perhaps it would be still 

 better to have the uprights round, or octagonal, of about three-quarters of an 

 inch in diameter, standing four or five feet apart, wdth a top rail an inch 

 broad and three-quarters thick, and rounded off. 



Wire fencing, with the usual wooden uprights, is decidedly bad, for the 

 wires are apt to become slack, and liable therefore to catch the legs of cattle; 

 besides which, the posts or bearers are awkwardly heavy, as contrasted with 

 those made of iron. 



The Chain and Stone, I need hardly say, is unfitted for fencing 

 purposes. The wonder is that it was ever introduced, for it is both useless 

 and unsightly. 



The Iron Hurdle is a useful kind of fence, as it can be conveniently 

 moved where addition or deviation is thought desirable, but it has rather a 

 temporary appearance. 



The kind of fence I prefer, though more expensive than others, is one 

 which we have lately introduced on various estates. It is composed of 

 substantial and ornamental cast-iron uprights or columns, with octagonal 

 panelled plinths of about three inches in diameter; the remaining part 

 of the column, starting from the plinth, being of one dimension throughout, 

 namely, two inches. At each bar above the plinth are squares, with the 

 angles taken off and varied by moulding, and sockets in the centre of the 

 square on each side the column project about an inch-and-a-half, (in addi- 

 tion to the hole formed through the columns), to receive the rods. The 

 tops of the uprights are finished with a low cap, the uprights themselves 

 standing six feet from each other, and being fixed in blocks of stone one foot 



