BOARDS BETTER THAN RAIL FENCES. 217 



H. J. WHITMORE, 



CANTON, FULTON COUNTY, 



Boards Better than Bail Fe7ices — Bolls and Harrows the Corn 

 G-round Before Planting — Drainage. 



My farm consists of three hundred acres, situated in Ban- 

 ner township, Fulton county, and it is all under cultivation. 

 The out boundary fences are principally post and board, six 

 boards and two posts to the rod. The inside or division fences 

 are made mostly of rails, and require eighteen rails and four 

 stakes to each rod. The board fence is, in my estimation, 

 much the neatest fence, and I prefer it in this locality, for the 

 following reasons. First : Suitable rail timber is very scarce, 

 making it almost impossible to get good durable rails. Second : 

 A rail fence requires much more time and labor to keep it in 

 repair, as it is frequently blown down by strong winds, thus 

 leaving the crops exposed, and forcing the farmer to drop every 

 thing else until the fences are rebuilt. Third : Breachy stock, 

 which are a great trouble to the owner, and a source of un- 

 pleasantness in a neighborhood, are invariably the result of 

 fences out of repair. A rail off here or there is too often 

 neglected until the stock gets over, and thus a habit is started 

 that increases until the animal becomes perfectly unmanageable, 

 and the owner becomes only too glad to part with such a 

 creature at any sacrifice. But such is seldom the case with 

 board fences. All this bother, unpleasantness and extra ex- 

 pense to keep fencing in repair is done away with. I use the 

 rail fences for division or field fences, because they are more 

 convenient to move, a very great advantage which rails have 

 over all other kinds of fencing. 



I divide my farm into fields, none of which exceed forty 

 acres. A lane three rods wide leads from the barn lots and 

 divides the farm, from which access to adjacent fields can be 



