FARM LAYOUT 387 



239. Field fences. If there is a permanent pasture 

 on the farm, it rarely pays to fence the fields. If the 

 fields are pastured in rotation, it may pay to fence them. 



There are many objections to fenced fields. The fences 

 prevent the easy adjustment of field lines to changed con- 

 ditions. It is often desirable to change the size of fields. 

 Adjoining fields can sometimes be worked as one if there 

 is no fence. 



In hauling, and other work, much time is often saved by 

 being able to go across the fields. If fenced, one must go 

 around to the gate. 



The fence lines cause more or less waste land. On one 

 farm the area of untilled land, including that on both sides 

 of the fence, was found to be as follows : 



i j 



WIDTH OF WASTE RODS OF FENCE TO 



If land is worth $100 per acre, the land wasted would 

 be worth 59 cents a rod along a rail fence, and 22 cents 

 along a woven wire fence. 



Not only is there much actual untilled land, but the crops 

 are injured along a fence by turning, and considerable is lost 

 in harvesting. The actual loss is probably double what 

 the above figures indicate. 



The fence line also makes a harbor for weeds and other 

 crop pests. 



In the eastern third of the United States, a fence line 

 must be mowed by hand every year or it will grow up to 



