248 THE YOUNG FARMERS MANUAL. 



that almost any one can make it. a is the sill, about thirty inches 

 long, of good timber, two by four inches square, b is the stand 

 ard, about three and a half feet long, five inches wide, one inch 

 and a quarter thick, with three-quarter inch holes bored in it about 

 four inches apart, c is the lever of tough timber, not less than 

 three inches square at the mortise where it plays on the standard. 

 The mortise should be so long that the lever can play up and 

 down freely. The short end of the lever should be six or seven 

 inches longer than the end of the sill, and scalloped, as in the 

 illustration, to prevent its slipping off the rails. The other end 

 should be about six feet long, and of a true taper from the mor 

 tise to the end. The end need not be larger than a fork handle. 

 d is an iron pin with an eye in the end, attached to the lever c 

 by a small chain or leather strap. The pin is for holding the 

 lever at the holes in the standard for prying across, e is a pawl, 

 attached to the handle, and plays in the notches in the standard 

 I. In using the jack for lifting the corners of the fence, put the 

 end of the lever under a rail and raise the corner a little, and 

 put a stone or block of wood between the rails to keep them 

 apart. Now, carry the jack to the next corner and raise it up a 

 little, and fasten the lever with the pawl, and then take out the 

 pieces of the rail and put in a good one, and let the fence down 

 again. When it is desirable to raise the corners of a fence so as 

 to put larger blocks under them, the fence jack is much more 

 convenient than a handspike, because one hand can work with it 

 very advantageously, while with nothing but a handspike two 

 hands are very necessary. If the end of the lever on which the 

 rail rests extends too far beyond the end of the sill, the jack will 

 tip over when a corner is resting on it. To obviate this difficulty, 

 run the end of the lever under the rails so far that the weight of 

 the fence will not be beyond the end of the sill. If the rails 

 should be close to the ground, raise them a little and block them 

 up, and then set the jack a little under the fence. Such a jack 

 is a very convenient implement for raising one end of the axle- 

 trees of a wagon, when the wheels are to be taken off. The 

 notches for the pawl should not be quite as close together as they 



