1854.' 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
139 
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.96. 
Wire Fences. 
We promised lately to give some further information 
on the supject of wire fences. Those that have been 
erected of late years may be divided into two kinds, 
such as have succeeded, and those that have failed; in 
other words, the efficient and the worthless. The 
worthless have usually been made in the attempt to 
erect them at a low cost, or from twenty-five to fifty 
cents per rod, with slender wire, and with flimsy stif¬ 
feners. A wire fence of this sort, snapped and muti¬ 
lated by the various rampant animals that have come 
in contact with it, and afterwards patched up with 
boards, rails, and brush, is not in our opinion the most 
ornamental and pleasing object in a rural landscape. 
We shall therefore dismiss at once the further consider¬ 
ation of this sort of barrier. 
No person in this country has constructed and used 
wire fences with better success than Henry W. Sar¬ 
Jitditt 
• 
The cost of making the fence depends somewhat on 
the soil. In many soils, a common post-hole auger 
can be used. My soil being stony, the holes were dug, 
and cost 4 cents apiece. My cedar posts (18 inches 
long,) 7 cents each; making the cost of 100 feet of 
fende about $13.40, or about 13£ cents per foot as fol¬ 
lows :— 
*20 uprights, weighing 5 \ lbs. each, 110 lbs., at 4 cts., $4 40 
500 feet wire, weighing 100 lbs., at cents,. 5 50 
20 cedar posts, digging holes, staples, &c.,. 2 50 
Labor putting up, two men half a day,. 1. 00 
Per 100 feet,.'..$13 40 
Of course, the expense is increased or diminished by 
increasing or diminishing the number of posts. In my 
woods, I run the wires from trees, and require only 5 
to 10 uprights, instead of 20, as in the above estimate, 
and in some cases none at all; while upon my lawn, I 
have employed 25 to the 100 feet, in order to make the 
wires tight and straight. In my woods, I have ran 
over the fence with coal tar; upon my lawn, it is paint¬ 
ed grass green. 
In a late letter from H. W. Sargent, he gives us 
the following valuable additional information: “ For- 
gent, Esq. of Fishkill Landing, N. Y. He published 
about four years ago in the Horticulturist, a very clear 
description of his mode of construction, from which 
we make the following extract 
I take common bar iron, If inch wide and f inch 
thick, and cutting it into lengths of 5 feet, I round off 
the heads, sharpen to a gradual point the feet, and then 
pierce it with five holes to receive the wire, at the dis¬ 
tance of 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 inches, which are the dis¬ 
tances of the sheep and lamb hurdles in England. 
These form the uprights, and are driven 9 inches in¬ 
to cedar, locust or chestnut posts, 18 inches long and 5 
or 6 broad, which are placed immediately below the 
surface of 'the ground, leaving only the wire uprights 
to show above, and are heavily rammed down,—ma¬ 
king them rather firmer (there being less resistance to 
wind and other ordinary pressure,) than posts set for 
common board or picket fence. These uprights are set 
5 feet apart. <6 or 7 would, I presume, answer equally 
well; and after being plumbed, the wire is drawn 
through and fastened securely, in hundred feet lengths, 
to a stout post of cedar or other wood, unless one has 
the good luck to find a tree, which makes a much 
stronger and less visible finish. I find it difficult (us¬ 
ing simply a crow-bar as a lever,) to draw the wire 
tight and straight, at distances much greater than 100 
* feet. The wire I employ is No. 4, about the thickness 
or a trifle larger than a common quill, and costs in New- 
York, at wholesale prices, per lb.; though I since 
learn it can be purchased at 4^ cents. 
merly , I should have stretched my wires from tree to 
tree, securing them to each tree at 10 to 20 feet dis¬ 
tance by iron staples. The contraction and expansion 
of the wires however is such between winter and sum¬ 
mer, that now I prefer attaching the two extremeties 
to some large tree, running the intermediate length 
through uprights such as I described in the Horticul¬ 
turist, and screwing up each wire at each end with 
screws for this purpose, to be obtained at Longett & i 
Grriffing’s, New-York. I unscrew them an inch or so at 
the approach of cold weather, to allow for the contrac¬ 
tion of the iron. The wire is No. 4, annealed, although 
I believe No. 5 will do. 
“ I have never had any fence broken by the most 
unruly animal , and I like them more and more each 
year. 
“ I think that every 10 to 20 feet at least should be 
supported by an upright, otherwise the wires are apt 
to sag—my best fence has the uprights 6 feet apart.” 
Our readers, who propose to erect wire fences, 
should be very particular, first , to obtain annealed or 
telegraph wire, of the best quality. We have seen 
some-very heavy wire fences snapped by large steers ^ 
dashing blindly against them, when this precaution //L 
