COST OF FENCING IN NORTH CENTRAL STATES. 
15 
vary greatly, both as to kind and cost of materials used and the 
manner of construction. It is not uncommon to find a gate, one that 
must be opened and closed many times every day, so made that it is 
a load for the average man to lift, and hung in such a way that every 
time it is opened and closed the operator has to drag it back and forth 
by main force. Gates of this kind have no place on any farm. They 
usually cost just as much as a gate that is so constructed and hung as 
to be easily handled. There are several types of automatic gates 
which may be opened 
and closed by pulling 
levers so placed that 
they may be reached 
by the driver without 
dismounting from the 
wagon seat. A gate 
of this type is very convenient, especially when spirited horses are 
used on the farm. The arrangement of gates on the farm should be 
such as to make the fields as readily accessible as possible. In figure 
9 is shown a gate arrangement along a farm lane which will allow of 
the running of stock from one field to another by simply fixing the 
gates so that they connect the desired fields. The lane is 12 feet wide 
and the gates 11 feet 9 inches long. 
Table 4. — Distribution of fence on the farm and Jiow it is effected by the size 
of farm. 
Fig. 9. 
Size of farms (acres). 
Kind of fence. 
100 
and 
un- 
der. 
101 
to 
140. 
141 
to 
180. 
181 
to 
240. 
241 
to 
320. 
321 
to 
400. 
401 
to 
600. 
601 
to 
1,000. 
1,001 
to 
1,500. 
1,501 
and 
over. 
Aver- 
age. 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
Per 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
cent. 
Road 
24.6 
26.2 
30.9 
30. 5 
35.3 
34.6 
34.8 
42.0 
47.7 
43.4 
36.3 
Line 
25. 7 
26. 1 
23.2 
23.9 
22.3 
23.4 
23.4 
20.6 
18.0 
20.8 
22.3 
Permanent inside 
40.7 
40.1 
37.8 
38.0 
35.6 
35.9 
36.1 
32.8 
29.3 
32.5 
35.3 
Temporary inside 
1.0 
1. 1 
1.5 
1.3 
1.5 
1.0 
1.1 
.9 
1.0 
.7 
1.2 
Farmstead 
8.0 
6.5 
6.4 
6.2 
5.4 
5.1 
4.6 
3.6 
3.9 
2.6 
4.9 
DISTRIBUTION OF FENCE ON THE FARM. 
In Table 4 the fences were divided into five general classes with 
reference to their location on the farm. The names of these classes — 
namely, road, line, permanent inside, temporary inside, and farm- 
stead — are self-explanatory and denote the location of each on the 
farm. It may be noted that as the size of farm increases the pro- 
portionate amount of road fence increases, while the line or division 
fence decreases. The amount of permanent inside and farmstead 
fence is relatively smaller on the larger farms. It will be noticed 
