THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 85 



touch the under side of the stakes from the bottom to the top of 

 the fence. The place for each stake is shown by the preceding 

 diagram. The heaviest rails are laid between the stakes for 

 riders, and if large poles, as long as two rails, can be obtained 

 for riders, the fence will be much stronger than if it were made 

 entirely of rails. This kind of fence is to be staked with stakes 

 not sharpened, but set in holes dug with a pick, or mattock, whose 

 blade is about two inches wide. 



100. I may be allowed to remark here, that but few men 

 know how to dig a stake hole correctly. We often see the man 

 stand facing the fence when digging the holes ; this is decidedly 

 wrong, because when standing in this position, the earth, which 

 should all remain unbroken and solid, to keep the stakes from 

 tipping up when the riders are laid on, is all broken up, and the 

 stakes tip up very readily ; but if the digger will stand with his 

 side to the fence, and dig a long deep hole, leaving an unbroken 

 bank for the end of the stake to raise against, it will be almost 

 impossible to make the ends tip up by laying on any amount of 

 heavy riders. It matters not how long the hole is dug in the 

 direction of the length of the fence, but it should be dug to fit 

 the stake. It should slant in the direction of the stakes when 

 the riders are on the fence, and be just wide enough to admit the 

 end of stake when it is thrust into the hole with a man's whole force. 

 When the stakes are large, and the rails also, the stakes must 

 be set more slanting than when the rails are very small. If 

 stakes be set rather straight up and down, they may be in the 

 correct position for a small rail, but if the riders were large there 

 would be too much space between the rails and riders. Two 

 riders are usually laid in such a fence, although many farmers 

 use but one. The under rider is laid with one end in a pair of 

 stakes, and the other end under the next pair of stakes. The 

 upper riders, of course, are laid in the stakes, with both ends 

 above them. 



