462 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



Mr. Lawton inquired as to what was the economy of this kind 

 of fence. He stated that the New-Haven railroad fence cost only 

 one dollar a rod. 



Mr. Prindle stated that one point was that it could be made of 

 timber that would not be durable if set in the ground. Another 

 thing was its portableness. The panels can be easily taken apart, 

 and moved, and put up again. The posts are cut upon a certain 

 angle, so that they bind when the panels are set up in place, and 

 thus the whole stands firm . The same plan can be applied to 

 mortised posts and rails as well as to boards nailed on. The cost 

 he stated at sixty-two and one-half cents a rod. The great ad- 

 vantage of this kind of fence is that it can be made in the winter, 

 under cover; and it can be used in one place one year and the 

 next year in another place. He thinks the time has come when 

 strict economy and improvement in fencing should interest our 

 entire community. The cost of fencing in the United States is 

 variously estimated at from $400,000,000 to 600,000,000— the 

 fences of Pennsylvania alone having been estimated a few years 

 since, by Mr. Biddle, before the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, 

 at $100,000,000, or $10,000,000 annually. It is said that in many 

 instances the fences alone have cost more than the lands they in- 

 close are worth. It is this enormous fence tax that keeps down the 

 agricultural interests of our country. This is a perfect hurdle 

 fence, being constructed in separate panels or lengths, and can be 

 removed conveniently from place to place. The fencing of stacks, 

 folding of stock, and other necessary small inclosures, is but the 

 work of a few moments when tlie panels are on hand. This fence 

 is accessible at any point for a gate, with a slight alteration. The 

 panels can be made in bad weather, at odd times, in Avinter season, 

 or by machinery. One great advantage proposed in my fence is 

 its being moved in whole or in part with little trouble; another 

 eminent advantage is that it stands firm on the ground without 

 having posts or anything else in the ground to decay; another is 

 that making both ends of the posts sharp, no water can enter the 

 bodies of the posts, the lower ends being supported on flat stones, 

 bricks or other things, to keep the bottom sharp end of the post 

 clear of the ground. And in the bays formed by the angles of 

 the fence fruit can be cultivated and the ground kept free of 

 weeds which give shelter to destructive insects who harbor in 

 those neglected borders of our fields, and at their convenience 

 sally out upon our crops and do us millions of dollars of damage 

 in a few days; as, for instance, the little insect which sometimes 



