48 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



nail through the board into it. The cost of this would not ex- 

 ceed a dollar and a half for forty rods of fence, as it would 

 require but twenty stakes, worth not more than five cents each, 

 and they could be driven down in two hours. A still cheaper 

 way to guard against wind, is to drive short stakes against the 

 brace boards, near the outer part of the upright. Let the stake 

 come up a foot above the ground, and drive a nail through it 

 into the upright. When this fence is to be put up to stand some 



years, I would recom- 

 mend that it be made but 

 three boards high, and 

 that a barbed wire be 

 TRUSS FENCE WITH STAKES AND WIRE. stretched over it, and 



fastened to the stakes. There would only need to be posts used 

 at the ends, as the stakes set in the notches would be held firmly 

 by the fence which would be nailed to them. If before setting 

 up this fence a few furrows were thrown together so as to raise 

 the land six inches above the level of the field, and leave a shal- 

 low ditch each side,* I think that three boards and a wire would 

 turn a breachy mule. 



This fence is not strictly portable, but it can be taken apart 

 and moved without disturbing the panels, and quite rapidly. We 

 do not fasten the tops of the uprights together at all, as we 

 find that the short brace-boards nailed to the uprights hold it 

 perfectly. If you are putting up the fence for temporary use, 

 I would not nail it to the stakes at all, but would drive them 

 on alternate sides, and one to every sixteen feet. In this case 

 cheap stakes would be sufficient, as there would be no danger 

 of their rotting off. 



One great advantage of a fence of this kind is that it can 

 be made in the barn or shop during the leisure of winter or on 

 stormy days when outside work can not be done, and it can be 

 set up when the ground is frozen, or when so wet that it would 

 be impossible to dig post holes and set posts. Even if you 

 make the fence full height without the wire, it will take but 

 three feet of lumber for the uprights for each panel, and this 

 costs you but one-third as much as a good post. We also save 



