Equipment 383 
is usually the case. In general, the fence should be 
stretched tightly to posts sixteen feet apart, but when 
fencing small lots, the posts should be only eight feet 
apart. Around the small lots, it is convenient to have 
a two by four laid flatwise on top of the posts. This 
serves to brace the posts, to keep the wire from sagging 
down between them, and adds a finished appearance to 
the fence. The fence should be securely attached at the 
bottom, and heavy barb wire stretched tightly on the 
ground below the bottom wire of the woven fence. Many 
fences are provided with a barb wire woven in as the 
bottom strand of the fence, but this has no advantage, 
and the fence is less convenient to handle. 
FLOORS 
The durability and ease of disinfection are the chief 
advantages of concrete, but when only a small number 
of pigs is kept, or when the floors are later to be replaced 
by better ones, wooden floors are satisfactory, and will 
last three or four years. The floors of the inside pens 
usually slope toward the drain if a drain is provided. 
Whether the floor should be provided with a drain will 
depend on the system which is in use on the farm for 
handling the manure. Just as with other kinds of stock, 
there are two general systems for handling manure; one 
method is to absorb the liquid with bedding and remove 
at frequent enough intervals to keep the house sanitary. 
The other method is to lay the floor in such a manner 
that the liquid will not reach the bedding and will run 
off from the pen either into a drain or cistern. There 
is more difficulty in keeping the piggery bedded down 
than is experienced with other kinds of stock, because 
