242 



Artijldal Divisions of a Farm. — JSTo. 1. 



Vol. ir. 



Artificial Divisions of a Farm.— No. 1. 



Where a country is entirely in tillage, it is 

 of less importance that farms be divided by 

 artificial barriers; but wherever live stock is 

 kept, this is essential to the proper keeping- 

 of the animals, and to the profitable occupa- 

 tion of the grounds; and besides the purpose 

 of retaining and separating animals of difl^e- 

 rent kinds from one another, and of defending 

 the cultivated crops from injury, fences serve 

 tlie purpose of sheltering the fields, and, 

 when accompanied by ditches of draining the 

 ground. The fences of the farm may consist 

 either of stone- wall, or of live fence, or of a 

 combination of the live fence and stone-wall, 

 and sometimes even of an open ditch, a 

 mound, or a rail. 



STONE FENCES. 



The stone- wall may either he formed of 

 stones built without cement, or it may be 

 built with mortar like common masonry. — 

 But the last of these methods is rarely prac- 

 tised with the common fences of a tarm. — 

 The ceraentmg of the stones with mortar, 



adds, indeed, to the durability of the wall, but 

 then the expense is too great in common 

 cases. 



The wall, therefore, for the ordinary pur- 

 poses of the farm, may generally be built of 

 stones alone, tliough sometimes with a little 

 mortar merely for cementing the coping, and 

 occasionally for.pinning or closing the inter- 

 stices of the outside. When stones cannot be 

 obtained, brick may be substituted. 



The materials for building tiie dry-stone 

 wall, as this kind of wall is termed may be 

 saml-stone, whin-stone, or any other stones of 

 sufficient durability. Loose stones taken from 

 the surface, termed land-stones answer suffi- 

 ciently well, if they be of proper size, and 

 not too much rounded ; but in the latter case, 

 they present too smooth a surface, and can- 

 not be kept in their places without mortar. 



The implements to be used in building the 

 dry-stone wall are, a mason's hammer, a spade 

 or shovel for clearing the ground for a founda- 

 tion, a pick or mattock, and a frame of two 

 upright posts fixed together, so as to corres- 

 pond with a verticle section of a portion of 

 the wall, (Fig. 40.) 



Fi?. 40. 



The line of the intended fence being fixed 

 upon and marked on the ground, tlie^stones 

 for building sliould be brought forward, and 

 laid down on both sides, if possible, of the 

 line offence, but, if not, on one side. Pins be- 

 ing fixed in tlie centre of the space to be oc- 

 cupied by the wall, the workman proceeds 

 thus:— He carries liis wooden frame to some 

 distance along the line to be built upon ; he 

 sets it perpendicular, which he is enabled 

 to do by means of a plumb-line attached to 

 it, and he fixes it in this position in a simple 

 manner as sliown in the figure. He then 

 fixes another similar frame at the place 

 where the wall is to commence ; he stretches 

 two cords between these two frames on the 

 outside, and as these cords correspond with 

 the outside of the wall at a given height; he 

 has a guide for building it of the required di- 

 mensions. After having built one portion, 

 he uses only one frame, the wall itself serv- 

 ing afterwards the part of a frame : for the 

 cords being fixed to both sides of the wall,' 

 and then attached to the frame which is I 

 placed in advance, the workman has, as be- 



fore, a guide by which he proceeds in build- 

 ing. 



Tjie foundation of the wall should be laid 

 on firm ground, and wlien there is not green 

 sward to build upon, the loose earth should 

 be taken out by the spade, until a solid founda- 

 tion is arrived at. In building, the largest 

 and flattest stones should be used for the 

 foundation; and it is very desirable, if the 

 materials used will allow, to place stones at 

 intervals, of sufficient size to lie across the 

 breadth of the wall, so as to bind tlie wall 

 together and render it more secure. (Fig. 

 41.) different kinds of coping may be placet 



Fig. 41. 



upon the wall, to defend it, one of the« cori- 

 sists merely of turf, two sods being laji upon 

 the wall, with the earthy sides pl(«ed to- 



