SILVER-FOX FARMING. 
13 
there is a solid hardpan 1, 2, or 3 feet below the surface the fence 
may be laid directly on it. If the subsoil is light and open, the pens 
are not fox-proof unless the fence extends down 3 feet. Some 
ranchers take the additional precaution of digging a trench and 
installing a concrete wall 2 feet below the surface with a 1-foot 
underlay. 
OVERHANG. 
An inward overhang 18 inches or 2 feet wide prevents the fox 
from escaping from his pen, but when he has scrambled up to an 
overhang his only means of 
descent is by falling. Some- 
times valuable animals are seri- 
ously injured in this way. To 
prevent such accidents inter- 
mediate overhangs have been 
developed, as well as new types 
of pens. Intermediate over- 
hangs are sometimes con- 
structed 5 feet from the ground, 
as shown in Figure 11, or a 
smooth zone is made by nail- 
ing a strip of galvanized sheet 
iron to the posts around the 
entire pen at a height of 4 or 
5 feet from the ground. 
WIRE CARPETING. 
On soil which is principally 
sand, ranchers place an entire 
carpet of wire a few inches to a 
foot below the surface. When 
this is done it is not necessary 
to dig a ditch to plant the posts 
and underground wire. The 
post holes only should be duor, 
the posts set in, and stones and 
earth put in place. The whole 
pen area should be excavated 
to a depth of approximately 4 
to 6 inches. The wire netting 
should be cut and put in place, 
then laced together and to the sides of the pen. 
handy to fasten the carpet wire to the walls. An easy method of lav- 
ing carpet wire is to prepare a strip of land as wide as the roll of 
wire to be used by shoveling the earth to one side. When this strip 
is shoveled clean. 4 inches deep, lay in the wire and shovel the soil 
back on it. Repeat the operation 'until the area is completely car- 
peted, as shown in Figure 12. 
METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION. 
To construct a pen, first stake it out and line it up with a cord. 
Dig a trench 30 inches deep and wide enough to permit the free use 
Fig. 10. — Interior of fox pen, showing 
carpet wire laid on surface of the ground, 
entrance gate, and wire overhang. 
Hog rimrs are 
