UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 

 W. J. Spilltnan, Chief 



Washington, D. C. 



January 12, 1916 



COST OF FENCING FARMS IN THE NORTH 

 CENTRAL STATES. 



By H. N. Humphrey, Scientific Assistant. 



CONTENTS. 



Areas covered and farming types 3 



Method of investigation 3 



Local requirements and adaptation 4 



Distribution of the various types of fence 5 



Factors influencing fence requirements 10 



Relation of size and type of farm to fence per 



acre 12 



Distribution of fence on the farm 15 



Cost of fence maintenance 17 



Life of and test for wire fencing 18 



Posts: Life, cost, preservation, and materials. 21 



Construction of wire fences 26 



Cost of maintenance of farm fences 30 



Summary 31 



The question of fencing was not considered a problem by the 

 pioneer farmer. Timber was abundant and cheap, as was also the 

 necessary labor required to work it up in the form of fences. Land 

 was relatively plentiful and cheap, and it did not matter so much if 

 rail fences and hedgerows did occupy considerable of it. Since 

 pioneer days, however, farming conditions have undergone a radical 

 change. At the same time the mode of fencing farms has undergone 

 an evolution, this evolution at all times keeping pace with the chang- 

 ing farming conditions and adapting itself to them as best it could. 

 Thus has come the transition from early agricultural conditions, 

 with its cheap land, plentiful timber supply, and rail fences, to the 

 farming of the present day, with high land values and a scarce and 

 ever-decreasing supply of timber. The present-day farmer does not 

 have at his disposal an almost unlimited supply of high-grade timber 

 and labor with which to build fences, and he must incur a big outlay 

 of money in securing the necessary materials and labor. To him the 

 matter of fencing his farm suitably and economically has become a 

 problem. 



The enormous proportions which the farm-fence problem has as- 

 sumed to the farmers of the United States can best be shown by the 



Note. — This bulletin will be of interest to farmers and students of agricultural condi- 

 tions In tlj<: North Central States. 

 8958 — Hull. .",21— lft— 1 



