[71] 



it slope so that it will not become muddy or sloppy. Let 

 it be in size to suit the number of sheep intended to pro- 

 tect. An acre of ground will suffice amply for from one to 

 five hundred sheep. Let it be enclosed by any means that 

 will exclude a dog. One used for years *by the writer was 

 made of pickets, cut eight feet long and put two feet in the 

 ground, well packing and stripping it on the inside. It is 

 not necessary to sharpen the ends, as, if closely put together, 

 it will never be passed by dogs. Have an entrance by a door, 

 so that when shut the fold is closed. If pickets are not 

 convenient, a plank fence will answer equally well, only it 

 will require more constant care to keep it in repair. About 

 1,700 pickets are required to make a fold, worth, when of 

 cedar, $3 per hundred. It will cost seven cents a yard to 

 dig the trench and put them up. The strips, four inches 

 wide and one inch thick, will cost $1.50 per hundred feet, 

 and the nails will cost about two dollars more. So a good 

 substantial fold made of cedar, which will last, with slight 

 repairs, at least twenty-five years, will cost say $75, which 

 is a very small sum to pay for security and peaceful nights. 

 If one wishes to economise, he can either enclose his barn 

 with such a fence, or some other of his outbuildings that 

 require an enclosure, and thus save a double expense. Thus, 

 while his neighbors are continually annoyed by dogs and 

 sustaining heavy losses with destroyed or harrassed sheep,, 

 he can turn the key on his flock and quietly go to bed, sat- 

 isfied his flock will be safely in the fold the next morning. 



The fold should be also sheltered on the inner side, to 

 allow the sheep to feed during the long nights and be pro- 

 tected from the rain, as well as have good dry hay to go to. 

 The shelter should be not more than four feet high, and the 

 length of two boards will be sufficient. Next the fence 

 racks can be constructed in the following manner: A round 

 pole from the wood- or a heavy scantling is laid against the 

 bottom of the pickets, and secured there by stubs driven in 

 the ground. Then bore one and a half inch holes in an 



