QUALITY IN WIRE FENCING 309 



should be, after weaving, will not untwist, since its 

 crossed wires are stuck together by the coating. 



Improvement in methods has, in recent years, enabled 

 the makers to put on heavier coatings. But there is 

 one objection to this, in that heavy coatings incline to 

 make cracks at joints and bends of the web. Both the 

 maker and the user having made this criticism, a custom 

 arose of wiping the zinc coating to make it smooth and 

 even. Thus, most of it was wiped off in some instances. 

 This rather points to the conclusion that roughening at 

 bends, etc., is something of a guarantee of a good coating. 



Contrasting the advantages to both producer and 

 consumer in the use of light and heavy wires, the Re- 

 port says : " The use of the heavier wire enables the 

 manufacturer to work up a larger tonnage of metal 

 without material increase in labor and other cost charges, 

 and he may also expect to earn a better reputation for his 

 products than he has hitherto enjoyed. The consumer 

 will be repaid in the longer life of his fences and a higher 

 efficiency in the objects for which the structure is designed. 

 It is a mistaken idea to suppose that because the use of 

 heavier wire operates to the advantage of the manufac- 

 turer, the selection of light wire must necessarily operate 

 to the advantage of the consumer. A light fence which 

 must soon be renewed might possibly be considered an 

 advantage to the manufacturer, if there were only one 

 kind of fence available, or if he entirely controlled the 

 market. But, a consumer is not likely to repeat a failure 

 with a particular brand of fence ; and as the competition 

 in the manufacture of wire is especially keen in this 

 country, it is at once apparent that fences which rust 

 rapidly work against the interest of all concerned. 



