96 FORESTRY WORK 



back of tlie post with flat-headed nails or screws, the 

 wire pulled fairly tight by hand, passed through the hole 

 in the post and the one in the barrel of the ratchet, and 

 the latter wound up by means of a lever or a screw wrench. 

 After the wire is fixed and strained, the fence should be 

 levelled off by driving down any stobs that may be too 

 high. 



The wires should not be fully stretched until the whole 

 fence is finished, because the strain on each succeeding 

 length will have some effect on the length previously 

 stretched. Each length should be strained gradually, and 

 the whole looked to again before finishing the work. 



To prevent stock rubbing against the fence, the top 

 wire should be barbed. The next two wires may be either 

 No. 7 galvanized strand wire or No. 6 plain galvanized, 

 and the three bottom wires No. 8 strand or No. 7 plain. 

 Strand wire, although higher in price, is much stronger, 

 No. 7 being at least as strong as No. 6 plain; and as there 

 are 546 yards in 1 cwt. of No. 7 strand against 393 yards 

 in 1 cwt. of No. 6 plain, the difference in cost per yard 

 of fence is practically nil. At pre-war prices No. 6 plain 

 cost 'SSd. per yard, No. 7 galvanized strand •42d. per 

 yard. 



To guard against deer a fence 6 feet high with nine or 

 ten wires will be necessary. 



To join two lengths of plain wire the ends are brought 

 together and held with clams, and each alternately twisted 

 round the other four or five times. This can be done 

 very neatly by hand, but a knotting tool is usually used. 



For strand or barbed wire the latter is necessary, as it 



