1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
51 
Fencing and Fences. 
What We are Aiming At. 
Many letters of inquiry will be answered, by 
simply stating the object and aim of these chapters 
on fencing: As previously noted, the cost of fenc¬ 
ing is enormous. Half the fencing in the country is 
needless and should be abolished, and will be when 
the best system of farming is adopted, and proper 
laws in regard to animals as “ free commoners ” are 
enacted and enforced. That time has not arrived. 
“ Soiling ” cattle will come gradually into practice in 
the older settled States, but a large amount of 
fencing will be necessary wherever domestic ani¬ 
mals are kept at all. Almost half of our country 
is devoid of wooden fencing materials, and in 
most of the rest, timber is disappearing and in¬ 
creasing in cost. Wood fences,—except those of 
chestnut, locust, red cedar, and a limited number 
of other woods, none of them abundant—decay 
rapidly, and need constant repairing and renewing. 
Now we have every reason to believe that Iron 
and Steel can be utilized in the construction of 
fences that will be better, cheaper, and ten times 
more lasting than ordinary wooden structures. 
The supply of iron (and steel made from iron) is 
inexhaustible, and cheaper modes of production are 
rapidly developing. The aim of these chapters is to 
not only gather and disseminate what is already 
known as to iron and steel fencing, but also to 
stimulate invention in that line. A large number of 
letters from men of inventive minds, with sun¬ 
dry suggestions and questions, show that a good 
effect has already been produced. The wide-spread 
interest in this subject is manifest in the fact that 
tens of thousands of extra copies of our past two 
numbers have been called for. 
Metal Fences vs. Prairie Fires. 
There is one important point, not previously re¬ 
ferred to, in favor of metal fences, posts included, 
for the new prairie pasture lands, where the annual 
burning of the grass takes place. Such fences will 
not be consumed, though if not standing on a strip 
of plowed land, they may be warped and slightly 
injured. As is well known, a great amount of 
fencing is annually destroyed by these prairie fires. 
This consideration alone is a strong point iu their 
favor. As plain wire is practically useless, the 
barbed wire, with all its objectionable features, 
will be used, until a better metal fence is supplied. 
Relative Cost of Iron and Wood Fence. 
Many letters ask us to give the present difference 
in the cost of wood and iron or steel fences. We 
have not yet gathered all the data which we shall 
be able to give, but some approximate figures may 
be presented. Fora comparison take the common 
post-and-board fence,and the Improved Brinkerhoff 
Steel Strap (No. 19), or any of the forms of Barbed 
Wire given last month on page 11. The price of 
these in quantity may be estimated at 11 cents per 
pound, 1 pound to the rod. The cost of boards 161 
feet long and 6 inches wide we will put at 12 cents 
each, that is, $15 per 1,000 feet board measure, 
which is below the actual cost at points distant 
from the lumber regions. Suppose also that it is 
practicable to set the posts 81 feet apart from their 
centers. The steel strap or wire fences require only 
one post to the rod. The cost of the posts we will 
reckon at only 121 cents each, which is below the 
average. We then have 
metal fence will not cost over $70. No allowance 
is made for saturating the boards with any material 
to give them a fair durability. Once put up, 
the metal fence will outlast half a dozen wooden 
fences, except the posts, which will have the same 
durability in either case. 
Is There Any Doubt Then 
that metal fences are to be preferred on accoun t of 
cost, durability, and frequent repairs ? The com¬ 
parative effectiveness of the two is the chief question 
to be decided ; and if this be settled in favor of the 
metal fences, the only question will be, which is 
the best kind of metal fence. 
Iron Fence Posts. 
A serviceable, effective, cheap, easily erected Iron 
Post, for general use in ordinary farm and prairie 
fencing, is now of great importance, and we give 
here a few more of the forms presented, not so much 
for their practical value in all cases, but as sugges¬ 
tive in calling out or producing nexa devices and 
Fig. 14. Fig. 15. 
inventions. Some other forms have been con¬ 
tributed, but they have not yet been perfected, or 
proper sketches of them have not yet been prepared. 
Fig. 14 represents one of several contrivances 
devised by the writer for supporting small or large 
iron bars used as fence posts. In this form three 
flanges, or wings, are cast in one solid piece, with 
a hole in the center of the top, through which the 
iron rod is inserted. The wings are thin iron 
plates running out to sharp edges at the wide bot¬ 
tom ends, so that they can be readily driven into 
the ground, and the post bar driven through, as 
shown in section in Fig. 15. There may be three 
or four of these wings; if set in the right direction 
probably three would suffice to resist the post’s 
swaying to either side, and also resist the ordinary 
strain in the direction of the length of the fence. 
The hole may be of any form and size desired, 
for a round bar of any size, or a flat bar, or it may 
be large enough to receive a small wooden post. 
So also the wings may be of any size, length 
width or thickness required by the character of the 
soil, the distance apart of the posts and the conse¬ 
quent strain upon each. They may be curved or 
triangular, or of any form desired. The hole may 
oe a short tube with the wings extending out from 
its sides. The center part around the hole may 
be of any thickness and strength required. For 
ordinary posts in firm soil, the wings one-eighth 
inch thick, 8 to 12 inches long, and 4 to 6 inches 
wide at the bottom ends would probably suffice, or 
even less than these dimensions, reducing the 
weight to 4 or 5 lbs. and the cost to 12 or 15 cents, 
or less even; while for soft, yielding soil, and for 
an extra strong fence, the dimensions may be 
much increased, without corresponding increase in 
weight. As the upper edges of the wings curve 
downward after leaving the post, they are mainly 
out of the way of cultivating close up to the fence. 
FOR 100 RODS OF FENCE. 
Post and Board .—4 Boards 
High. 
400 boards at 12c.$48.00 
200 posts at VZ'/ic . 25.00 
50 lbs. nails at 4c. 2.00 
Labor about (?). 25.00 
Total.$100.00 
Galvanized Steel Fence.— 
4 Strands Elgh. 
400 rods at 11c.$44.00 
100 posts at 12Xc. 12.50 
400 staples. 75 
Labor about (?). 10.00 
Total.$67.25 
The cost of labor will depend upon whether the 
posts are driven, or set in holes dug by spade, or by 
post augers. The cost will be only half as much 
for the Steel Fence, as only half as many posts are 
used. The cost of erecting the board fence will be 
several times greater than putting up the metal 
straps or wire. It is a very safe calculation to say 
that post and board fence will cost nearly 50 per 
cent more than the metal fence; that if 100 rods of 
the post and boards can be put up for $100, the 
A wooden fence post for soft, wet ground has 
been devised for his own use by Mr. John Bartlett, 
of Oshawa, Ont., as shown in figure 16. It is con¬ 
structed of durable cedar; the base 3 to 4 feet long 
and of 4x4-inch stuff, or of any desired size and 
strength, is set as far into the soil as may be neces¬ 
sary, and the upright post is dovetailed into it, as 
illustrated. He saturates the bed-piece, and es¬ 
pecially the joint, with a hot mixture of gas tar and 
pitch, both to preserve the timber and to set the 
joint more firmly.—Mr. Bartlett sends the sketch, 
figure 17, for using an iron bar as a post on ground 
too soft for supporting it alone. The upright. A, 
is 1 or 1 inch round iron, bent as shown, the end 
E, entering an auger 
hole, and a strong 
staple, D, is driven 
over the angle. The 
bed-piece, B, is 3 to 4 
feet long, of any width 
and thickness required 
by the soil, saturated 
with pitch as above, 
and set at any desired 
depth in the soil.— 
Mr. Bartlett also sends 
us (fig. 18) another de¬ 
vice of his own for soft 
or other soils, which, 
though differing in 
form, is similar in 
principle to several 
other posts. This is a cast iron collar, of the form 
shown, of any size, and set at any depth required 
by the texture of the soil. If necessary, iron rod 
braces may be added on two or on the four sides. 
James C. Carpenter has devised a form of Fence 
Post, shown in figures 20 and 21. The ground piece 
of cast iron, shown by figure 20, is 11 inches long and 
5 inches across the top, with flanges on each edge 
and two loops for inserting an iron rod. This is 
driven into the ground, as shown in figure 21, and 
uhe iron post rod driven through it. The upright 
is a bat of round iron, 4 to 1 inch in diameter. 
Notches filed in or struck in with a “ cold chisel ’’ 
are made at the desired hights for the horizontal 
wires, and the latter are bound against the notches 
Fig. 18. 
with short bits of wire, the ends twisted together 
with heavy pinchers. (The middle wire is left un¬ 
bound to show the notch.) Weight of foot piece 
(fig. 20), 41 lbs.; of i-inch diameter round bar, H/slb. 
per foot, say 91 lbs. for 2 feet in the ground and 41 
feet above ground. Figure 19, a device for driving 
the iron post bars, is a hollow tube (a large gas 
pipe) to slide loosely over the post, with a hammer 
weight upon the top. 
About Barbed Fences. 
When beginning this discussion anew, three 
months ago, we confess to having been almost ready 
to condemn nearly all, if not all the barbed fences 
in general use, from the fact that we knew of many 
instances of severe injury to valuable animals, and 
from the strong opinions against their use expressed 
to us by intelligent men of good judgment, some of 
them having had opportunity for extended obser¬ 
vation. Our objections have been somewhat modi¬ 
fied by recent letters from our readers. Some write 
in effect, “ our animals were more or less injured at 
first, and almost every steer gives them one trial, 
but hardly ever a second one ; they remember the 
pain, and they keep at a safe distance thereafter.” 
