FARM FENCING. 



45 



the ground will be needed to splice the boards on, while a 

 good stake in the center of each panel will be all that is 

 required. 



I estimate the cost of this fence to be about forty cents a rod 

 less than that of a four board fence with a post every eight feet. 

 I would nail the bottom board eight inches above the ground, 

 and bank up; then a four-inch crack between the two boards 

 and this would bring the top of the second board two feet 

 above the level of the ground. Put the first wire eight inches 

 above the board and the second sixteen inches above 

 the first. 



As plain wire costs but half as much as barbed, and is per- 

 fectly safe, it is preferred by many for fences. I have seen a 

 fence of this kind made with seven wires, and posts thirty-six 

 feet apart with an upright of inch board stapled on every four 

 feet, and the owner assured me that it turned all stock. The 

 saving in the cost of wire over boards would be about twenty- 

 five cents per rod, and the saving in posts would be considerably 

 more than this. 



Next we have the wire and slat fence, which is economical 

 from the fact that refuse lumber can be used in making it. Old 



WOVEN-WIRE SLAT FENCE. 



boards which have been used until rotten at the post so that 

 they will no longer hold nails, are often sound between the 

 posts, and can be cut up and used in this fence and will last for 

 many years, or the farmer with timber that will split freely 

 oak or hickory is excellent can rive out slats. It is sometimes 

 made with boards but three feet long and a barbed wire 

 stretched above it. In making this fence, slats of any width 

 from two inches up to six or eight may be used. Two plain 

 wires are stretched eight inches above the ground and two 



