50 
Field Gates. 
will remain stationary, and will only move gently towards the 
folding post when brought to, say, the angle of 45°. If the 
bottom hook be fixed further in on the post (fig. 9), and the 
additional projection from the post is continued, a double action 
is given. The point of the gate is raised, and the side of the 
gate, when brought at right angles to the line of the posts, 
being off the perpendicular also, it will be self-closing. The 
first impetus is given by the second alteration in the position of 
the bottom hook, and it is maintained by the first. It is only 
the minimum closing force, however, which should be given. 
The kinds of hinges used for hanging gates are so various, it 
is unnecessary to treat of them at any length. The best is the. 
double-tailed band (fig. 10) clasping the heel and top rail, and 
Fig. 10. — Double-tailed Band. 
binding them together. The top hook should go through the 
post and have a screw and nut at the end. It has the weight 
to bear, and this gives facility for slight adjustment in the 
hinging. 
The bottom hinge is only an abutment on the post, and may 
be much simpler. If made as in fig. 11, and the hanging post 
has moved, and the gate dropped at the point, so that the 
fastening is troublesome or ceases to act, the back and front nuts 
on the tail of this bottom hinge can be used to adjust it. 
When the heel of the gate is 4 in. by 4^ in., and the diagonal 
tie binds heel and top rail together (as in fig. 3), something much 
simpler than the double-tailed band may be used for the top 
hinge (as in fig. 12). As the only use of the screw is that it may 
Fio. 11. — Bottom Hinge. Fig. 12. — Top Hinge. 
be tightened to elevate the point of the gate, when this is done it 
keeps the neck of the hinge — which should taper slightly — tight 
in the iron plate. The bottom hinge is similar, but, as a 
thoughtless workman might slacken the nut of the screw there, 
to do the same work as is done by tightening the top one, and 
as the back nut is not in use, it is better to make it a fixture. 
If the post has yielded beyond the power of the screw on the 
