FENCING 167 



8 rolls wire . . $24.00 



660 pickets . . 19.80 



Labour , . . 20.00 



63.80 per mile 



It made a big hole in one's shrinking capital, 

 and when it was finished my neighbour consoled 

 me with his opinion that it was quite the worst of 

 the many bad fences he had seen in the country, 

 and that it wouldn't keep in one's own horses, not 

 to mention keeping out other people's cattle. 

 However, although in learning the detail and 

 method of fencing I became aware that the pickets 

 should have been driven fully ten inches deeper, 

 the corners strengthened, and the wire stretched 

 absolutely taut, it certainly served to keep in horses, 

 and where may the fence be found to keep out a 

 steer who will go down on his forelegs, get his 

 head neatly under the bottom strand, raise it on his 

 back to pull his body through, and finally rise on his 

 forelegs and squat on his haunches for his final roll 

 to the other side ? Also my own calves developed 

 sporting instincts, and leaped barbed wire as lightly 

 as a hunter leaps a hurdle, and frequently chose to 

 pasture on the wrong side of the fence. 



Before the fence was an accomplished fact 

 Hardwick had passed into the service and tuition 

 of Guy Mazey. I don't think we should have parted 

 quite so soon, as his work was really good in places, 

 and I was getting accustomed to his noise. But 

 one afternoon I was bound for the Fort and the 

 Hudson Bay Store with seven pounds of butter to 

 trade for groceries. I had washed the dinner dishes, 



