358 



FARM DEVELOPMENT 



not blow wire fences down, and animals running into 

 them do not press against a single post, but the strain is 

 equalized among several along the line. Reel devices 

 are very useful in distributing and rolling up a single 

 strand of barbed wire, and rolls of wire fence ribbons. 

 Setting posts. The old art of digging post holes with 

 a spade, setting the posts in line and tamping the re- 

 turned earth 

 solidly about 

 them is hard 

 work. But even 

 here there is 

 opportunity for 

 system in cut- 

 ting the sod, in 

 pulverizing the 

 soil in the bot- 

 tom of the hole, 

 and in lifting out 

 the spadefuls of 

 earth. Some 

 men will quickly 

 dig a post hole 

 with half the 

 expenditure of 



Figure 242. Device for pulling fence posts with the aid of a team, ^ncrgy required 



by another who 



has not learned how to handle the spade to the best 

 advantage. It is difficult to give instructions without a 

 spade and a place to make a post hole. Post-hole augers 

 and some other form of implements for digging post 

 holes save much labor. In many cases the best way to 

 set posts is to sharpen them with a sharp ax, dig the 

 holes one spade length deep and then drive the posts 

 with a heavy maul or sledge. The workman can stand in 

 the back end of a wagon, or better, on an especially con- 



