FENCING 



223 



actual line on which the fence is laid being the center of this 

 strip. Flat rail fences (Fig. 189) are made by means of 

 flattening the ends of the rails and either nailing them to 

 posts or driving the rails into mortises cut in the posts. 

 Such a fence requires considerably more work in its con- 

 struction than a rail or worm fence, but it is straight and 

 wastes less land. 



Stump fences. In the clearing of new land, stumps 

 that have been removed by explosives or by a stump puller 

 are frequently piled in such a manner as to make a very 



Fig. 190. A stump fence 



satisfactory temporary fence (Fig. 190). When they have 

 decayed enough to prevent their use as a fence, they are 

 easily destroyed by fire. 



Hedge fences. On prairie farms settled forty or fifty 

 years ago neither rock nor timber was available for fence 

 purposes, and an attempt was made to develop a fence from 

 growing plants. Osage orange, which grows fairly rapidly 

 and is covered with thorns, was used in the form of a hedge. 

 The plants were raised in nurseries from the seed, and when 



