30 



BULLETIN 321, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICTJLTTTRE. 



COST OF MAINTENANCE OF FARM FENCES. 



As stated on a previous page, the cost of maintaining farm fences 

 consists of (1) the interest charge on the money invested, (2) the 

 annual depreciation charges, (3) repairs, (4) interest on the value 

 of the land which is covered by fence rows and from which the 

 farmer derives comparatively little or in some cases no benefit, and 

 (5) the expense of keeping down weeds. 



The interest charge is usually reckoned on the prevailing rate of 

 interest on half the cost of a new fence, or it may be reckoned on the 

 average present value of the fences on the farm. 



The depreciation charge is determined wholly by the life of the 

 fence. If this is 20 years, the annual depreciation charge would be 

 one-twentieth of the first cost of the fence. 



COST OF REPAIRS. 



The repair charge will vary with the kind of fences used. The two 

 most important factors influencing them are the quality of the fence 

 and the use to which it is subjected. If the fence is built from good 

 materials and is well constructed, the annual repair bill will be 

 greatly lessened. A fence placed around a stockyard or pasture field 

 will be subjected to harder treatment than one around fields where 

 stock seldom reach it. Also, certain kinds of stock and some indi- 

 vidual animals are harder on a fence than others. The repair charges 

 on a fence are light during the early life of the fence, and increase as 

 the fence grows older. There is, however, one item of expense which 

 has to be considered as much with a new as an old fence. This is the 

 cleaning up of the fence row and keeping it free from grass, weeds, 

 and brush. It is estimated that the cost of keeping fence rows free 

 from weeds, etc., amounts to 1 per cent per rod per year. 



Table 8 has been computed from a large number of estimates 

 furnished by farmers in the Central States. The figures show that 

 wire fences are by far the cheapest to keep in repair. 



Table 8.- 



-Average annual cost of repair per rod for several of the most com- 

 monly used fences. 



Kind of fence. 



Number 



of esti- 

 mates. 



Cost of 

 repair 

 per rod. 



Kind of fence. 



Number 

 of esti- 

 mates. 



Cost of 

 repair 

 per rod- 





787 

 290 

 26 



$0,024 

 .025 

 .051 



Rail 



89 



17 



1,067 



, SO. 045 





Picket 



.047 







.043 









Detailed records covering the cost of repair of woven-wire fence 

 along its right of way for a period of 4 years were furnished by one 

 of the large eastern railroads. These figures, although slightly higher 

 than those in the table, check very closely with them. The annual 

 charge for the upkeep of hedge given in this table covers the cost of 

 trimming the hedge. It has been found by averaging a large number 

 -of estimates that when hedge is trimmed once a year a man can trim 

 30 rods per day ; when it is trimmed twice a year a man can trim 70 

 rods a day ; and when it is trimmed three times a year a man can trim 

 110 rods a day. The cost of keeping the various kinds of wooden 

 fences in repair is very high. 



