234 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
opens its star-like petals over the fields and by 
the wayside, until in the distance, one might sup¬ 
pose the snow of Winter, without its cold, had 
again covered the earth. But the farmer dreads 
the snow in its season much less than this intru¬ 
sive visitor. He knows too well that the elements 
which nourish its growth are so much lost to the 
grass which should supply food for his stock ; 
that however rich it may be in appearance, its 
value for his purposes is nothing ; his cattle may 
occasionally nip it, but evidently not for the love 
of it, but for want of something better. If every 
cultivator had but nipped this intruder in the bud, 
“ putting his eye out ” the first time it opened in 
Ins field, digging out, root and branch, every spe¬ 
cimen, it could never have come to be the pest it 
is. On thousands of farms embracing almost the 
entire surface in many parts of the. country, it 
monopolizes the pastures, and being a hardy per- 
rennial, it maintains its footing with vexatious 
pertinacity. Many weeds can be run out, fairly 
smothered with grass, but the Daisy is more than 
a match for the cultivated grasses, and is nowhere 
more at home than in the pasture and meadow. 
When once fairly established, we know no way of 
extirpating it but by a succession of hoed crops, 
for three or four years at least. Of course where 
land is thus severely tasked, it should be ade¬ 
quately manured, and with this treatment it can 
probably be subdued. At any rate, cropping with 
corn, or potatoes, or other roots, will be more prof¬ 
itable than pasture stifled with daisy. 
■ — - ■ ■ w g q ^-Egao — - ■ ■» - 
Written for the American Agriculturist.—Prize Articles. 
Farm Fencing.¥1, 
POST-AKD-BOARD FENCE. 
For a farm enclosure , by which term we mean a 
line or boundary fence, dividing it from the high¬ 
way, or from a neighbor, a strong one is necessary. 
It should be also, full five feet high—six in some 
cases, depending on what class of animals are 
kept in the fields by yourself, or those who adjoin 
you. We have named next to the hedge, the 
stone wall, the post and rail, and the Virginia or 
worm fence, all strong, substantial, and durable, 
if well built, and of good material; and where 
stone and timber are abundant, they are as cheap 
as any, and perfectly reliable. 
But there are wide districts of country where 
neither of these kinds of fences can be adopted, 
from the scarcity and expense of the material 
with which to build them. The next best fence, 
then, is built of posts and boards. These may be 
transported thousands of miles by water, in ves¬ 
sels, boats, or rafts, and hundreds of miles on land 
by railroads, from the forests where they grow. 
Yet they form a more expensive fence than the 
last two described if properly made ; and they 
are not quite so strong, but they answer an excel¬ 
lent purpose. The very first requirement in this 
fence is to have posts of durable timber. We 
have named the best kinds of wood for posts, and 
they may be sawed, or split as you choose, and 
set as already described, not exceeding 8 feet 
apart, and on the boarded side in an exact line— 
where a straight line is intended. 
The first process in making this fence is to get 
the range of the entire line, where straight, if 
possible, by setting up temporary stakes every 20 
or 30 rods. Then dig a line of holes full 21 feet 
deep—3 feet is better—and begin planting the 
posts bv inserting one at each end of the line, as far 
as you can see well, so as to bring every interme¬ 
diate post in a direct line by the eye—the best of 
all guides in such a matter. Let every post be 
thoroughly tamped down as the earth is thrown 
in around it, with a hard wood stick like a com¬ 
mon hand-spike, the bottom cut off square, and if 
shod with an iron ring round it, all the better. 
This line of posts set, then distribute the boards 
along it. The kinds of boards to make the fence 
may be of any variety of wood which is last¬ 
ing, and not inclined to warp. White pine makes, 
undoubtedly, the best fence boards to be found, and 
in the long run they are cheaper at fifty percent 
over the first cost of any other wood, excepting 
chestnut. White-oak, and the other oaks, ash, 
cucumber, poplar or white-wood, bass-wood, black- 
walnut, butternut, hemlock, and others, are more 
or less inclined to warp; yet any of them are as 
strong as pine, and the white-oak, chestnut, 
black-walnut, and butternut quite as durable. 
These last named woods require a heavier nail 
than the pine, and the posts a foot or two nearer 
together, on account, of the tendency of the boards 
to warp. All this detail, however, will depend 
upon the circumstances of him who has the fence 
to make, the kind, or kinds of timber at hand, 
and his own taste, or ability to encounter the 
expense. 
THE WIDTH 3 AND LENGTHS OP THE BOARDS, 
of which the fence is to be made, will depend upon 
what is to be fenced in, or fenced out of the en¬ 
closure. If swine, geese, and all sorts of “ free 
commoners ” are to be excluded, a foot wide 
board is necessary at the bottom, raised three 
inches above the level of the ground. Above 
that, C or 7 inch wide boards are sufficient. Three 
inches is space enough to allow between the low¬ 
er board, and the next above it ; four inches 
next; five inches next; and six inches to the top 
board, making five boards in all, of 3 feet aggre¬ 
gate width, and 21 inches in the spaces between 
and below them, the whole fence being 57 inches, 
or 4 feet 9 inches in bight—enough for any ordi¬ 
nary purpose. The length of the boards should 
be plump 16 feet, or twice the distance the posts 
are apart, sawed all of a length, as near as may 
be, and each end square. In nailing the boards 
to the posts they should break joints —that is, the 
boards should butt each other alternately one 
above the other on every other post, which gives 
the whole fence equal strength and strain. To 
make a first class, neat fence, every board 
should be of the same thickness—plump inch, 
when seasoned. There should be no shakes, 
black loose knots, or rotten places in them. 
Sound stuff, in fact, should be used, neither brashy, 
spalty, nor cross-grained, which, although other¬ 
wise sound, renders them liable to break by a 
sudden knock, or heavy pressure. 
The nails used should be fence nails made on 
purpose, and not the common cut nails for build¬ 
ing—the length of a common 8-penny, but twice 
its thickness, and of better iron, if possible to get 
them. Fence nails are a common article in many 
places, and are worth twice the common build¬ 
ing nail for that purpose. They should be well 
driven home, with a heavy hammer, for half the 
strength of a nail is lost by driving it badly, with 
a twist or a bend in it when driving. The top 
board should be on a line with the top of the post 
in a continuous line, and if too long, the post 
should he sawed off to a.uniform hight. Some 
fence builders recommend, and use, a batten placed 
up and down the face of each post after the boards 
are nailed on, also a cap board on the top along the 
whole line, nailed on to the tap of the posts, using 
the narrow fence boards for these purposes. The 
battens and caps give a finished look to the fence, 
but they, in reality, do more hurt than good. 
The battens keep the joints damp after rains, 
causing them to rot sooner than if exposed to the 
sun so as to dry immediately after being wet. 
The cap is not objectionable on that score, and 
both of them strengthen the fence a little, but not 
enough to pay for the lumber they consume and 
the damage caused by the batten; when well nailed, 
and built as it ought to be, the fence is abundantly 
strong without them. Three nails at each end, 
and in the middle of the bottom board, and two 
nails in each end and the middle of the narrow 
boards are sufficient for all common purposes. 
Mind this thing, however: if your posts are of 
pine, cedar, or other soft wood, the nails must be 
lull half an inch longer than if of hard wood, 
like oak, or the other kinds. 
COST OP THE FENCE. 
This will of course, depend much on the price 
of labor and material. Labor does not vary much 
in price throughout the country, hut lumber varies 
from $8 to $25 per 1,000 feet, and in some places 
is higher than the latter price. The posts may 
cost more or less than the boards, inch measure; 
but on the average, about the same, as they may 
be sawed, or split and hewed. Let us see : 
Board measure. 
2 posts 7i ft. long each, 7 inches square at butt, 
ami 2x7 inches at top ends, say.24 feet. 
1 bottom board 16 ft. long, 1 ft. wide.16 “ 
4 upper boards 16 ft. long, 6 inches wide.32 “ 
For every 16 feet of fence it takes .72 “ 
Add one pound of nails worth, say 5 cents at most. 
The labor of digging the holes and setting the 
posts is worth 4 to 6 cents each, according to the 
digging, say 5 cents (or 10 cents to each 16 feet 
of fence). We will call the labor of nailing on the 
boards 2 cents more. Thus the labor is 12 cents ; 
the nails 5 cents ; and the average price of boards 
and posts we will call H cts. per foot, or 108 cents 
—all together 120 cts. for the 16 feet, being half a 
foot less than a rod. We thus have a capital, sub¬ 
stantial, sightly fence, for all useful farm purposes 
at, say a dollar and twenty-five cts. a rod, all told, 
which will last twenty years without repair, if 
fairly treated. If we have put the price of lum¬ 
ber too low for some localities, it is also too high 
for others, and that will govern measurably the 
cost in different places. 
INSIDE ENCLOSURES. 
The cost of these, on the same plan, will de¬ 
pend more or less on the extent of security de¬ 
manded of them. Cattle and sheep do not re¬ 
quire half the strength of fence that horses and 
swine do—neither so high, nor so close. Three 
boards will fence against cattle and sheep inmost 
places, and the comparative expense will tie read¬ 
ily calculated. One thing, however, must be re¬ 
collected. Nothing so well learns farm stock to 
be unruly as poor fences. Therefore, every yard, 
or small enclosure where they are confined 
against their will shculd be high and strong, and 
close enough to keep their heads from poking 
through it. Gardens and orchards, and door 
yards, should also be well fenced, and all tempting 
sights properly secured. 
The kind of fences above described are sup¬ 
posed to be on farms where no conventional or 
town laws exist regulating the running at large 
of farm stock, and where every individual land 
owner must protect himself from the lawless and 
outrageous exactions of every poacher who 
chooses to turn his starveling cattle on to the high¬ 
way for their Summer’s pasture, preferring thus 
to tax his neighbors rather than provide tor him¬ 
self. Yet, in many districts of country a higher 
degree of civilization, or necessity exists, which 
restricts the running at large of animals, and ex¬ 
ceedingly frail and cheap high-way fences will 
answer every purpose. In such localities both 
the posts and boards can be further apart, and the 
cost of the fence may be much less. As a rule, 
