IN THE POULTRY YARD. 95 
The permanent fence round the yard alréady on the place was 
made of what are called’ “shingling laths,” the pickets being 9 feet 
long (an 18 foot lath cut in two). These laths are x inch by 1%, 
and may be obtained of certain lengths—z2, 14, 16, 18 feet, etc. 
Of portable fencing there were various kinds described in the 
books, but the choice lay between the simple lath fence I had used 
years ago and a fence of wire netting. ‘The great objection to the 
latter, however, was its cost. It is very neat, almost invisible, and 
for small runs answers admirably. But it costs 134 cents per 
square foot, which on a running foot 7 feet high, as is necessary for 
most of the non-sitters, amounts to 10% cents per running foot. 
The 16-foot panels which I used cost about half that sum per foot, 
or less than a dollar each, and the labor of putting up the lath 
fence is greatly less than that required for the wire netting. I had 
two kinds of lath panels ; one for fences where there were birds only 
on one side, and the other for division fences where birds were on 
both sides. 
The engraving, Fig 7, shows the style and construction of an 
ordinary panel. There were three horizontal rails, consisting of 
shingle laths, each sixteen feet long. These laths being 1 X 1% 
inches, were placed with their edge towards the upright plastering 
laths. This gave a greater depth of wood for the lath nails to sink 
into, and also greater strength against the bending of the fence side- 
ways by wind or the pressure of birds flying or running against them. 
-The wind, however, does not seem to take much hold of such a 
fence, although they.act as valuable shelters. The two lower rails 
were connected by a diagonal brace which was firmly nailed to 
to each rail at the end. The diagonal was simply an 18 foot 
shingling lath, cut to the right length and the proper shape at the 
ends. : 
The end slats were also made of shingling lath—a 16 foot lath 
cut in two. They were laid flat against the horizontal rails, and 
nailed firmly with wrought nails, which were clinched. As the 
length of an ordinary lath is 4 feet, and as the ends of the laths lapped 
past each other on the middle bar only a very little, the fence lacked 
only an inch or so of being 8 feet high. The upper laths were 
