THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 67 



the bark should be taken off at some rate ; and when it adheres 

 so tightly that it is necessary to cut it off, it may be cut off at 

 each end about a foot or so and laid in the fence, with the bark 

 downwards, and during the summer it will usually become so loose 

 as to drop off itself; but if it is not held in the joints of the fence, 

 it may be stripped off very readily after one end is loosened a 

 little, and if the rail be laid with the bark down it will become 

 loose by the drying of the rail. When rails are made of timber 

 having a very thin bark, like iron- wood, for example, the most 

 expeditious way of peeling them is to lay the rail to be peeled on 

 a couple of benches, and then with a drawing-knife shave off the 

 bark while the workman is sitting on it. When small poles are 

 used for rails, if they are not peeled entirely a strip of bark should 

 be taken off on two sides opposite to each other, and one of the 

 peeled sides laid upward in the fence ; by this means the bark 

 will become loose during the season, and many times drop off 

 itself. Rails, stakes, posts, and timber of every other description, 

 will be very much more durable if peeled, unless it is buried in 

 the ground. When a stick is two feet or more under ground, it 

 will last much longer if the bark be left on ; but if the bark be 

 left on a fence post, the part of it two feet below the surface 

 will be more durable with the bark on than if it were off. But 

 that same post will rot off at the surface of the ground many years 

 sooner if the bark was left on than if it was peeled before it 

 was set. Bark preserves timber when it is alive, but after it 

 has been cut down it hastens its decay, when it is exposed to the 

 influences of the weather, wet and dry. When the bark is not 

 taken off, worms damage rails and posts of many kinds of timber. 

 Allowing rails to soak in a pond of water for a few days will gen 

 erally loosen the bark so that it may be peeled off very quickly. 



DISTRIBUTING RAILS FOR FENCE. 



^1. It is a very common thing for many farmers, in hauling 

 rails and stakes where a fence is to be made, to distribute them, 

 as to number, entirely at random, without any calculation at all 

 how many will be needed for a fence of a given number of rails 



