Equipment 95 
make a fair cattle fence but not one that is really satis- 
factory, especially for calves. Four barb wires, however, 
make a strictly first-class cattle fence for inclosing large 
pastures and ranges, although it will not turn calves or 
any other kind of cattle if they are crowded into a corner. 
Five barb wires make a slightly better fence for cattle 
than four, but hardly enough better to justify the expense 
of the additional wire, and this extra wire at the bottom 
of the fence makes it much more dangerous for horses. 
The posts for such fences are placed about a rod apart, 
and this is close enough for all ordinary purposes. A 
three-wire fence stretched very tight is better than four 
wires a little slack. - 
CORRALS 
In the building of corrals of any kind, the first and most 
important consideration is to build them so that the cattle 
cannot possibly get out. This seems simple enough, but 
unless one is fairly familiar with the handling of cattle he 
will underestimate the ability of the average steer to escape 
froma corral. The fence must be at least six feet high and 
exceedingly strong. There are four common ways of 
building corral fences. The first is by putting up a pen 
of heavy poles, having the ends rest one on top of the 
other between pairs of heavy posts tied together with 
wire, thus building up the fence after the manner of a log 
cabin. If the fence is well made, this is an excellent 
method, and is especially adapted to small round corrals. 
For long straight corral fences, it is not so satisfactory 
unless the posts are exceedingly heavy. 
The second method is that used by all the leading stuck- 
yards. In this style of fence the posts are set deep in the 
