The Boundary for the Country Place 
FENCES AND WALLS OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS—HOW TO BUILD 
THEM AND AN INDICATION OF THEIR FITNESS 
by W. H. Butterfield 
I F the line of boundary, whether a fence, a wall or a hedge, is 
placed at the border of your property with that of someone 
else, it is well to consult the law as to what constitutes a “legal 
fence.” The various States have their own laws. They govern 
the height and the material and proclaim usually that each party 
to a boundary shall maintain his half, consequently you have no 
control over the portion which does not face your land. If you 
wish complete control of the fence or wall it must be entirely on 
your property. The above points might be kept in mind while 
determining the form your boundary line is to take. 
Fences are usually of wood, iron, wire or their combinations. 
The commonest form of fence, pure and simple, is of wood. This 
is very natural, as wood is our easiest-worked material and comes 
in convenient shapes and 
sizes. Early forms of 
wood fences are the 
snake, split rail and 
stump. Later came the 
dressed rail and the board 
and picket fence, and 
such elaborate types as 
are seen on large, formal 
places, where lattice work, 
balustraded fences, hoop 
fences and many with 
combinations of the above 
occur. 
The best we can say 
about the snake fence is 
that it is picturesque, 
which is another horribly 
misused word. Yet when 
used to border an old pas¬ 
ture or encircle a wood 
lot, the snake fence fits 
into its surroundings so 
well that we are apt to 
forgive it its faults, for it surely has some. It is not a permanent 
type, and, as it is only used for economy and speed of construc¬ 
tion, it can be dismissed from the remainder of these pages. 
The more usual forms of wood fences are board and picket. 
They are simple in construction, the 
members consisting of boards or pick¬ 
ets secured to horizontal members, 
which are in turn supported by up¬ 
rights in the ground. The most im¬ 
portant member is the upright. The 
others are easier to renew and cheaper 
to procure, therefore care is taken to 
use wood that is least affected by con¬ 
tact with earth. Of the common 
woods for this purpose, locust and 
chestnut are the best. The more sea¬ 
soned the wood is the better, and to 
insure longer life the ends in the ground can be treated ; in fact, all 
wood coming in contact with the earth should be treated for 
preservation. Charring is one way. The end is held over a fire 
until it is well blackened, both the tip and the sides, to a 
Where a stone wall joins the house the disparity of 
materials may be made less noticeable by using a 
wood fence in combination with the stone 
point well above 
grade. Other 
methods of pres- 
ervation are 
peeling, season¬ 
ing and paint¬ 
ing. 
Whatever 
method is em¬ 
ployed, carry the 
treatment above the ground line, as it is at this point where the 
surface is exposed to more frequent conditions of dryness and 
dampness, it is due to these constant changes that wet-rot sets in. 
Notice any wooden post 
that is decaying, and you 
will see just at the ground 
line a deeper-area of cor¬ 
rosion. Grade the earth 
away from the post. 
Water should not be al¬ 
lowed to stand or collect 
on or near any woodwork, 
therefore it is well to 
bevel the tops of the 
posts so that rain will 
quickly run off. Posts of 
old fences sometimes were 
set on large stones level 
mound and se- 
them by iron 
Iron fences are lo-day found in either wrought or cast iron, with designs suitably in accord 
with the architectural detail of the house 
HOLLOW WA.LL 
COMMON BOND 
Walls of a single layer of brick can be stable if laid in zigzags 
or braced with pins (upper diagram). At the left is a plan of 
a hollow wall. The other diagrams show bonding and the 
various methods of raking mortar joints 
with the 
cured to 
dowels. 
The posts are best 
when set three feet in the 
ground and eight or ten 
feet apart. The quickest, 
cheapest form is to nail 
the rails to the posts and 
the pickets or boards to the rails. Of course, galvanized nails 
should be used. A better way is to let the rails into the posts, 
either at the sides or through the center and bolt them, while a 
still better way is to continue by cutting out holes in the rails and 
passing the ends of the pickets through 
those. Then, when all are nailed, you 
have a stouter fence. However, in 
this case it is not quite as easy to re¬ 
new a broken picket or a split rail. 
For a cheap fence, four by four-inch 
posts, two by four rails and pickets 
seven-eighths of an inch square, two 
inches apart, may be used, but it is 
much better to have the posts at least 
six by six and the pickets one inch or 
one and one-eighth inches square. At 
times when a lightness and grace of 
design is desired the smaller size pickets are used. 
An interesting fence is often made by using boards of random 
widths placed vertically to the rails. These boards vary from 
three to six inches in width, and often the tops are cut in uneven 
ENGLISH BONO 
(377) 
