106 THE YOUNG FARMER'S MANUAL. 



boards should be set on a line with each other ; and then the 

 posts, at the middle of the boards, should be set about half an 

 inch on the other side of the line. There is no face side to such 

 a fence, both sides being alike, and there are no joints to make, 

 nor to break, as in fences of other styles. After the boards are 

 all nailed on, a ridge of earth, twenty two inches high, should be 

 cast up under the boards, and seeded with grass. As the grass 

 seed sometimes all washes from the top of such a ridge, a row of 

 sods should be laid on the top of it, beneath the bottom boards. 



SELF-SUSTAINING BOARD FENCES 



125. Are the most disagreeable nuisances that ever dishonored 

 a farm. It is perfectly ridiculous to talk of making a good self- 

 sustaining board fence that will bear any worthy comparison with 

 a good post and board fence, either in point of cheapness or per 

 manency. I have never seen a model of a self-sustaining board 

 fence (unless it had as much worm, or even more, than a rail 

 fence) which was fit for any other purpose than to entrap the 

 credulous, or to be kept in the museum. I am well aware that 

 there are several styles of self-sustaining patent board fences, 

 which have been extolled to the clouds, and which, at first sight, 

 appear to be a great improvement in fencing. They look well, 

 and seem to stand permanently ; but after a few yes, very few 

 years of exposure to the influences of the weather, they begin to 

 twist and warp, and give way in important places by decaying 

 or shrinking, so that they soon become as "shackling" as a 

 rickety old wagon. When it becomes necessary to give much 

 worm to a board fence, in order to save posts, any good arithme 

 tician can show by figures, in a few moments, how many more 

 feet of boards it will require to build a zigzag fence than a 

 straight one, and it will be easy to show how many feet of boards 

 will be used up in making locks and cleats, and such like, for 

 the purpose of holding the fence erect. He can then calculate 

 how much that redundant lumber is worth, which ia required to 



