FENCES AND FARM BUILDINGS. 



47 



A very common and a very good substitute for the ridge at the 

 bottom of the w^all, is a trench from one to two feet deep, filled 

 with small stones, but even in this case it is better to have an 

 underdrain, directly beneath, or at the side of the wall. If beneath 

 it, with at least six inches of well-rammed earth separating it 

 from the small stones in the trench, lest earth be carried into the 

 drain by surface water and choke it up. 



Gates are so much better than bars that they ought to be uni- 

 versally used wherever frequent passage with vehicles is necessary. 

 Bars being much simpler, and not liable to get out of order, are 

 sufficiently good for the entrances to pasture-fields, but the time 

 lost in taking them entirely out, when the entrance must be fre- 

 quently used for wagons, is a sufficient objection to their use in 



Fig, 



such cases. The difficulty of making a gate that will swing well 

 on its hinges, latch easily, and swing clear of the ground, year 

 after year, is to me one of the mysteries. The tendency of gates 



