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THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



are most often neglected in this manner. If you have any 

 such, make an arrangement with your neighbor by which the 

 fence shall be set over a few feet, one way or the other, till the 

 row is cleaned out and the briers and weeds thoroughly sub- 

 dued, when it can be put back. Whatever other fences you 

 neglect, be sure and keep good line-fences, for this goes a great 

 ways towards making good neighbors. If, by accident, your 

 neighbor's stock trespasses on you, try and keep your temper, 

 for to lose this often involves the loss of a friend, and causes 

 years of unhappiness. If your stock trespass upon your neigh- 

 bor, offer to pay him the full damage, and do your best to pre- 

 vent a repetition of the offense. 



Water-gaps and Flood-gates are on many farms a 

 great vexation to the fence-builder. Where the banks are high 

 and firm enough to support a pole, and not so far apart but that 

 one can be found to reach, it is not a difficult matter to put up 



a swing-gate; but, 

 when abutments 

 must be built, the 

 difficulty is greatly 

 increased. I have 

 hit upon a plan for 

 an abutment which 

 is cheap and dura- 

 ble, and in many cases will answer the purpose admirably : 

 Get an oak hogshead, such as is used for shipping crockery; 

 take it to the blacksmith's, and have it hooped with old wagon- 

 tire, and place it where you need the support for your pole. In 

 some cases you will need to dig a little to settle it, or, if the 

 bottom is sandy or mucky, to drive a row of stakes around it, 

 at a little distance, to protect it. After it is in place fill it with 

 stone. If your abutment needs to be higher than the hogshead, 

 you can build flat stone up two or three feet above it. If you 

 wish to make it extra strong and permanent, mix thin mortar 

 one part lime to four of sharp sand and pour it in to fill the 

 interstices and bind the stone together. Such an abutment is 

 cheap, and the rounded surface of the hogshead presents but 



A GOOD WATER-GAP. 



