COST OF FENCING IN" NORTH CENTRAL STATES. 



15 



vary greatly, both as to kind and cost of materials used and the 

 manner of construction. It is not uncommon to find a gate, one that 

 must be opened and closed many times every day, so made that it is 

 a load for the average man to lift, and hung in such a way that every 

 time it is opened and closed the operator has to drag it back and forth 

 by main force. Gates of this kind have no place on any farm. They 

 usually cost just as much as a gate that is so constructed and hung as 

 to be easily handled. There are several types of automatic gates 

 which may be opened 

 and closed by pulling 

 levers so placed that 

 they may be reached 

 by the driver without 

 dismounting from the 

 wagon seat. A gate 

 of this type is very convenient, especially when spirited horses are 

 used on the farm. The arrangement of gates on the farm should be 

 such as to make the fields as readily accessible as possible. In figure 

 9 is shown a gate arrangement along a farm lane which will allow of 

 the running of stock from one field to another by simply fixing the 

 gates so that they connect the desired fields. The lane is 12 feet wide 

 and the gates 11 feet 9 inches long. 



Table 4. — Distribution of fence on the farm and how it is effected by the size 



of farm. 



Fig. 9. 





Size of farms (acres). 



Kind of fence. 



100 

 and 

 un- 

 der. 



101 

 to 

 140. 



141 

 to 

 180. 



181 

 to 

 240. 



241 



to 

 320. 



321 

 to 

 400. 



401 



to 

 600. 



601 



to 



1,000. 



1,001 



to 

 1,500. 



1,501 

 and 

 over. 



Aver- 

 age. 



Road 



Per 



cent. 

 24.6 

 25.7 

 40.7 

 1.0 

 8.0 



Per 



cent. 

 26.2 

 26.1 

 40.1 

 1.1 

 6.5 



Per 



cent. 

 30.9 

 23.2 

 37.8 

 1.5 

 6.4 



Per 

 cent. 

 30.5 

 23.9 

 38.0 

 1.3 

 6.2 



Per 

 cent. 

 35.3 

 22.3 

 35.6 

 1.5 

 5.4 



Per 

 cent. 

 34.6 

 23.4 

 35.9 

 1.0 

 5.1 



Per 

 cent. 

 34.8 

 23.4 

 36.1 

 1.1 

 4.6 



Per 

 cent. 

 42.0 

 20.6 

 32.8 

 .9 

 3.6 



Per 

 cent. 

 47.7 

 18.0 

 29.3 

 1.0 

 3.9 



Per 



cent. 

 43.4 

 20.8 

 32.5 

 .7 

 2.6 



Per 



cent. 



36.3 





22.3 





35.3 





1.2 





4.9 







DISTRIBUTION OF FENCE ON THE FARM. 



In Table 4 the fences were divided into five general classes with 

 reference to their location on the farm. The names of these classes — 

 namely, road, line, permanent inside, temporary inside, and farm- 

 stead — are self-explanatory and denote the location of each on the 

 farm. It may be noted that as the size of farm increases the pro- 

 portionate amount of road fence increases, while the line or division 

 fence decreases. The amount of permanent inside and farmstead 

 fence is relatively smaller on the larger farms. It will be noticed 



