150 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



With dogs I have had far less trouble than with worms, 

 both in Maine and in Massachusetts, as I have found my 

 barbed-wire fences substantially dog-proof. In Massachu- 

 setts I have used cedar posts, a carload of which I brought 

 up from Maine, at a cost of 4 cents each for the posts and 

 3 cents each for transportation. The carload included 1,000 

 posts. We have set the posts 8 feet apart, using a crowbar 

 to make the holes, and then driving the posts with a sledge 

 about 2 feet into the ground, leaving about 4 feet above the 

 ground. In Maine we have used old cedar rails taken from 

 the "Virginia" rail fences formerly used. 



The posts used in Massachusetts were small, averaging 

 perhaps 3 to 5 inches in diameter. The wire weighs a pound 

 to the rod, and has cost us as low as 2^ cents per pound, 

 though more recently it has cost 5 cents per pound. It is 

 now considerabl}^ cheaper, though I have not had occasion 

 to get recent quotations. As there are 320 rods in a mile, 

 it follows that 1 ton of wire weighing a pound to the rod 

 would stretch over Q\- miles for a sinojle strand. A mile of 

 seven-strand fence, therefore, would weigh just 2,240 pounds, 

 and, at 5 cents per pound, would cost $122. To make a 

 perfect fence a staple would be needed for each wire at each 

 post. The labor of building the fence is trifling. There 

 is hardly anything on the farm so cheap as a barbed- wire 

 fence. 



Our fences are practically dog-proof where we use but six 

 strands of wire and one wooden rail to steady the posts, but 

 seven strands are better. We put the first strand very close 

 to the ground, so that the sheep and dogs cannot crawl 

 under. Where the ground is irregular, the wire would rest 

 upon the earth in places, and should not be more than 3 

 inches from the ground at any point. We put the second 

 wire 4 inches above the first, the third wire 5 inches above 

 the second, the fourth wire 6 inches above the third, the fifth 

 wire 6 inches above the fourth, the sixth wire 8 inches above 

 the fifth, then a wooden rail 8 inches above the sixth wire, 

 and a seventh strand of wire 8 inches above the wooden rail. 

 This, of course, may be varied somewhat, according to cir- 

 cumstances, but it is substantially the kind of fence that we 

 use, and it has proved cflectivc. It is perfectly satisfactory, 



