COST OF FENCING IN NORTH CENTRAL STATES. 



31 



Table 9. — Showing the width of the strip of land (from the center of the fence 

 out on one side) which is made untillable by different types of fence. 



Kind of fence. 



Number 



esti- 

 mated. 



Amount 

 of land 

 made 

 untill- 

 able.i 



Fence 

 required 



to lose 

 an acre of 

 ground. 1 



Kind of fence. 



Number 



esti- 

 mated. 



Amount 

 of land 



made 

 untill- 



able.i 



Fence 

 required 



to lose 

 an acre of 

 ground. 1 



Woven wire 



Barbed wire 



Board 



4,048 

 3,853 

 3,030 

 2,6S3 



Feet. 

 3.29 

 3.42 

 3.23 

 3.29 



Rods. 

 802 

 772 

 817 

 802 



Hedge (well 



trimmed) 



Straight rail 



Worm rail 



2,356 

 2,066 

 2,180 



Feet. 



7.6 



3.57 



6.05 



Rods. 



347 

 739 



Picket 



436 







1 Should the fence run between two pasture fields, practically no land would be lost, but when it divides 

 two cultivate! fields the width of the strip of land made untillable, as shown by the table, should be 

 doubled and the number of rods of fence required to occupy an acre of ground would be one-half that stated 

 in the table. 



When farm land is high priced the amount of land that is covered 

 by fence rows becomes a matter of importance. For this reason 

 worm-rail and hedge fences are not practicable throughout the corn 

 belt, where there are still many of them in use. Table 9 shows the 

 amount of land rendered untillable by different types of fence. 

 They must be doubled if the fence divides two cultivated fields. 

 When a forage or small-grain crop is grown less land is lost along 

 the fence row than when corn, potatoes, or some other cultivated crop 

 is grown, for much land is taken for turning along the fence row with 

 the latter. Local practices also influence the amount of land along 

 the fence row which is not cultivated. Thus, in certain parts of 

 Iowa and adjacent States, it is not uncommon for a farmer to leave 

 a headland 10 to 12 feet in width along his fences; these are used for 

 driveways. In many localities of the East it is the practice to use 

 one horse to plow along the fence row in order to get as close to it 

 as possible. 



It will be noted from the table that wire, board, and picket fences 

 take up but a little over 3 feet on a side, while worm-rail fences 

 occupy double this amount of land. The amount of land that the 

 hedge fence renders useless for cultivation will depend upon the size 

 of the hedge. If it is left untrimmed it will sap the fertility of the 

 soil for more than a rod on each side of it ; if it is kept well trimmed 

 it occupies nearly double the amount of land taken by a wire fence. 

 If the season is dry, a hedge does much more damage than when 

 there is plenty of rainfall, as its root system extends out to a con- 

 siderable distance and takes up moisture that is needed by the crops 

 in the adjacent fields. 



SUMMARY. 



1. The large farm requires proportionately less fence than the 

 small one, and the ratio of fence required to the acre decreases in 

 proportion to the increase in size of farm up to a certain limit. 



2. Stone, hedge, and the different types of wooden fences were de- 

 Birable at the time they were first built, but changing economic con- 

 ditions make them impracticable at the present time, and they are 

 being replaced with wire fencing. 



3. The best kind of wire fencing to erect depends on the purpose 

 for which the fence is used. On a farm where mixed types of live 

 stock are kept, a general-purpose woven-wire fabric is needed. If 

 only cattle and horses are to be pastured, a coarser and less expensive 



