332 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
line of fence was never disturbed by any animal, nor a board 
nailed on, or a post righted up while I occupied the farm 
(nine years.) Neither did an animal attempt to get over it to 
my knowledge, and when I left the farm in 1868, the fence was 
nearly as true in line as the day it was built. The other line 
was a source of constant anxiety and watchfulness. Fully one 
fifth of the original fence boards had been replaced by 
new ones, and not a few of those remaining bore the marks 
of the frequent assaults of cattle and horses, either in attempts 
to get over or through the fence, or in rubbing against it; and 
the posts had to be frequently righted, while the wind, by 
swaying it, broke many nails. Now it presents a dilapidated, 
insecure barrier to cattle, while the other line is apparently 
good. The material was the same in both lines. 
Now the reason—the sharply inclined bank gave no conve¬ 
nient standing place for cattle to rub against the fence ; and ani¬ 
mals in approaching, found their fore feet below the level, thus 
pitching the head down, and making the fence seem insur¬ 
mountably high. And for the same reason no cattle or horses 
ever attempted to crowd or reach through. The sharply inclined 
bank gave also a dry, firm bed for the posts ; holding them at 
all times securely in line, and firm against the force of the 
wind, and, I think, added to the life of the fence at least fifteen 
per cent. Frdm my experience I feel warranted in affirming 
that this method will save not less than six per cent, annual 
cost over the usual mode of building. I will further explain, 
that in the line of fence before named, built on the old plan, 
the posts were set three feet in the ground—holes bored two 
feet and the posts sharpened and driven a foot—while the posts 
in the banked line were set but a little over two feet, but were 
banked a foot. One mistake I made in This line of fence was 
in sawing the boards and butting the ends together; I am now 
convinced that the better way is to lap the boards on the posts, 
and use but two nails, about sixteens on the lapped parts, and 
twelves on the middle, unless the posts are oak, when eights 
and twelves are sufficient (fencing size). By this method of 
