FARM FENCING. 49 



the expense of digging holes and setting posts, and, besides, 

 gain the advantage mentioned above, of doing most of the work 

 in bad weather. I have never put up a long string of this fence 

 at one time, but I know that two men can set up a quarter of 

 a mile of it in a day. The cost of the brace-boards will be 

 very little, as they can be cut from waste lumber. In making 

 this fence you will want a mitre-box for sawing your uprights. 

 The tops of the uprights should fit exactly when the panels 

 are set up, so as to give the proper spread at the bottom. 



For a three-board fence that is to have wire and stakes to 

 complete it, two feet will be ample spread for the bottom. My 

 barn-yard fence, which is five boards high, has a spread of three 

 feet. You will measure carefully, and get your first panel squared 

 and spaced exactly right, and then use it for a pattern, laying 

 the cross-pieces and boards exactly above the ones on your 

 pattern. 



When you wish to move a line of this fence, loosen one end, 

 and take it apart by lifting the panel and twisting it around at 

 right angles with the fence, as in this way you will break the 

 nails without splitting so many of the brace-boards. I should 

 not consider it expensive to move the fence, however, if you 

 split half of the short boards, as new ones would cost but little, 

 and the split pieces would be worth nearly cost for kindling. 

 In sawing the brace-boards you will save lumber and work to 

 reverse the board each cut. I think the cost of moving a fence 

 of this kind, even if new brace-boards must be furnished, would 

 be less than to move a rail-fence of the same length. The bot- 

 toms of the uprights can be placed on a flat stone, or piece of 

 board, to keep them from decay. I feel quite sure that, if 

 farmers will give this fence a trial, they will find it cheap, and, 

 in many places, the best fence they can get for the money. 



Fence Rows. There are many farms marred by the neg- 

 lected fence-rows, where sprouts and briers hold undisputed 

 sway. These should be cleaned out, and kept cleaned, and in 

 doing this, "a stitch in time will save nine." Do not wait till 

 a wilderness has grown up, but go over the row, spring and fall, 

 and cut or grub whatever has made its appearance. Line-fences 



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