54 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF FENCES. 



The growing scarcity of timber in Lancaster 

 county, where we have not yet realized the 

 importance of supplying the waste of years by 

 planting forest trees for the purpose of fuel 

 and fencing, invests the question of the con- 

 struction of fences with a growing impor- 

 tance. The best variety of trees to plant to 

 supply these wants is one of the questions now 

 before our Agricultural and Horticultural So- 

 ciety for discussion, and it will naturally in- 

 volve the comparative merits and economy of 

 hedges, wire, board, ywst and rail, and the 

 old-fashioned worm-fence. The scarcity of 

 timber in this section, suitable for either of 

 the latter, and our direct communication with 

 the piue lumber regions, suggest the economy 



yigure 1. 



of board fences, and to their construction we 

 will confine our remarks in this article. 



The board fence can be recommended for 

 economy and neatness ; but these desirable 

 qualities are often entirely lost by the careless- 

 ness of the builder, and the enclosure assumes 

 a dilapidated appearance within a short time 

 after being put up. In erecting a fence of 

 this description it will be found highly advan- 

 tageous to bear in mind the old adage that 

 ' ' whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing 

 well." In the first place, the requisite boards 

 for a given distance should be all piled together 

 to ascertain their respective lengths, and those 

 not coming up to the standard dimensions 

 should be sawed to fit, or sorted out and 

 placed together, to be subsequently, used by 

 setting posts to suit them. In measuring the 

 distance for the posts care should be taken to 

 use accuracy. The usual distance in a fence 

 of this kind is seven feet, tUe boards being 

 fourteen feet long. The distance should be 

 measured invariably from middle to middle 

 of each post without regard to their size. The 

 holes should be dug large to permit the ram- 

 mer to be used freely around the posts — a 

 common error in setting posts being to make 

 the holes too small, thus iireventing the earth 

 from being thoroughly packed and leaving the 

 posts unfirm ;ind rickety. An excellent plan 

 is to make the holes large and fill in with 

 stones. This prevents the fence from being 

 thrown out of line by the action of the frost, 

 and preserves the bottoms of the post from 

 speedy decay. 



After the posts are set, the top boards are to 

 be first nailed, and in doing so particular pains 

 are requisite, as they are to form guides for 



proceed with rapidity and accuracy. The rails 

 being nailed on, the usual practice is to stop 

 here ; but the most important work to secure 

 a strong, durable fence remains to be done. 

 Now saw small pieces of board to accurately 

 fit the spaces between the rails, and nail them 

 against the post as seen in Figure 1, which 

 illustrates a panel of fence at this stage of the 

 operation. These little blocks are made from 

 the waste pieces of the rails ; they are quickly 

 l)repared ; one nail holds them and they add 

 much to the durability of the fence. They 

 should never be omitted. The finishing touch 

 is given by nailing a facing strij) foiu- or five 

 inches wide on every post, which not only 

 makes a neat finish but greatly strengthens 

 the fence. Tlu^ addition of a cap rail will 



.give additional stability and preserve 



r~J tlie crowns of the post from decay. 

 ■l This is simply another board running 

 T"^l on top of the posts, and pnijecting a 

 ■1 — J little over the edge of the top rail. 

 Fiijure 2 shows a section of fence com- 

 "1 pleted, with facing strip and cap rail. 

 The cost of such a fence varies with 

 the price of lumber in different sec- 

 tions ; but the average expense has been 

 reckoned at $'2 a rod or 12^ cents per 

 foot, wliich includes all expenses, nails, 

 cartage, digging, &c. The cost of keeping it 

 in repair is about a cent and a half a foot, 

 each year, which includes its entire renewal 

 every twelve years. 



A writer in The Coimtry (?e»i?emaM says that 

 for several years he has adopted a mode of 

 making board fence which reduces the num- 

 ber of posts and the holes to be dug one-third 

 or one half. He sets the posts at a distance 

 equal to the whole length of the boards, and 

 places a short piece of scantling, or the split 

 portion of a thick slab, midway between them, 

 extending from the top of the fence down to 

 where the lower board is usually placed. He 

 saves the expense of the lower board by bank- 

 ing up the eartli ten or twelve inches at the bot- 

 tom. In this way a surface drain is made for 



This plan possesses the advantage of cheap- 

 ness, since it is easily made, and no iron what- 

 ever is required. All gates thus hanging will, 

 however, after a time "sag down, for the wood 

 of the gate rots, even if the post remains firm. 

 Figure 4. shows a plan for hanging gates, 

 where the hanging post projects above the other 

 parts of the fence, in order to permit the con- 

 nection of a rod or chain between the outer 

 extremity of the gate and the upper portion 

 of the post, as shown in the engraving. We 

 have represented a rod composed of wood for 

 this purpose, but the connection may be made 



Figure 2. i 



the remainder. Two space boards may now be ' 

 u.sed to assist in nailing the remaining rails I 

 with accuracy. These consist of pieces of 

 stout boards, about as long as the fence is 

 high, having as many notches cut in them as 

 tliere are rails in the fence. The space boards j 

 being hung one at each end of a top rail, act i 

 as supports for the boards below while being I 

 nailed, at the same time preventing any error ! 

 as to distance, and enabling the workman to '. 



h'igare 



carrying water away from the posts, and, most 

 important of qll, when horses and colts occupy 

 the field, a barrier is offered by means of the 

 ditch and bank, to prevent their crowding or 

 leaning against the fence. For this reason 

 the bank should be narrow at the top, as a 

 broad shelf will enable them to i)lace their feet 

 upon it. The boards are nailed to the battens 

 or stiffeners the same as to the posts, and with 

 long boards two are placed in each panel. 

 , With the cap similar to that shown in our 

 i illustration {Figure 2.) and the protection 

 ~ offered by the earth bank at the bottom, 

 he claims that a fence thus constructed is 

 as strong and secure as a common board 



t fence with double the number of posts. 

 We think the earth bank is a good idea to 

 combine with tlie fence we have illus- 

 trated, as neither cattle nor horses will 

 place their feet in a ditch or on the steep 

 side of an embankment for tlie sake of 

 crowding or leaning against a fence. The 

 saving of the bottom board will pay for 

 raising the bank, if it is done with a plow after 

 the posts are set and before the boards are 

 nailed on. 



A plan of constructing and hanging a good 

 and cheap farm gate is shown in Figure 3. 

 It will be observed that it is constructed with 

 diagonal studs and is l)ne of the strongest that 

 can be made. The heel post has two snjall 

 I)rojections, one at the top, the other at the 

 bottom. These fit into corresponding holes 

 made in a pin. This i)in fits into a hanging 

 post, as shown by the dotted hues in the figm-e. 



Figure 4. 

 with a chain whenever it is desirable. Gates 

 constructed in this manner can be opened and 

 shut without the least risk or fear of sagging, 

 by reason of their violently shutting to. They 

 are not expensive and might be more generally 

 adopted to advantage. 



It is of the first importance to have the 

 hanging post properly secured ; and even then, 

 in a few years, it giVes way, from decay. An 

 effectual method of preventing rotting in posts 

 is to chnr their bottoms. The preservative 

 qualities of charcoal are well-known. About 

 eighty years ago a quantitj- of oak stakes were 

 found in the bed of the river Thames, in the 

 very spot where Tacitus says the Britons fixed 

 a vast number of such stakes to prevent 

 the passage of Julius Ca?sar and his army. 

 These stakes were charred to a consid- 

 erable depth, had retained their form com- 

 pletely, and were firm at the heart. This 

 quality of charring was well-knowTi to the 

 ancients. Most of the houses in Venice 

 stand upon piles of wood, which had all 

 been previously charred for their pre- 

 servation ; and in England estates were 

 formerly marked out by charred stakes 

 driven to a considerable depth. Another 

 method which the writer of this has success- 

 fully tried for preserving wood in moist sit- 

 uations is to give it a good soaking in gas 

 tar or paratfine. An inlet for a sewer made 

 of common pine wood and thus treated lasted 

 for years and was entirely sound when re- 

 moved. Another, not thus prepared, rotted 

 in a couple of years. 



Good Correspondents : Major Freas, the 

 veteran editor of the Germantown Telegraphy 

 hits the nail squarely on the head when he says 

 that to be a good agricultural correspondent, 

 it does not require any great amount of learn- 

 ing. One has only to be sure the language he 

 employs tells just what he means to say ; and 

 it will be found in nine times out of ten that 

 the simplest and most common word is better 

 than one seldom in use. And so in regard to 

 facts, one should be sure that they are just 

 what he expresses them to be. People often 

 write that such and such results were "about" 

 so-and-so, when it would have been just as 

 ea.sy to give the whole in feet, pounds or 

 bushels, exactly as it occurred. It may seem 

 precise and particular to some people ; but it 

 leads to habits of exactness which in the end 

 save a deal of trouble all round. In these 

 days when " exact science " is becoming so 

 jiopular, it will do no harm to ask for exact 

 figures and exact expressions ; and to corre- 

 spondents of agricultural papers especially, 

 we may say that probabilities, iwssibili ties and 

 absolute certainties, are very different things, 

 and should always be considered while writing. 



