182, QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Mar., 1899. 
longitudinally between these two cuts, the chances are that the head of the 
post will split, and then, of course, it is ruined, but by slanting the axe, and 
cutting first one edge and then the other, the intervening portion of wood flies 
out, and the end cuts can be deepened and the process repeated. The holes 
should never be driven right through from one side, although many do so. It 
is better to make half the hole on one side, then turn the post over and cut 
through from the fresh side. By this means you avoid splitting your post, and, 
further, the hole is neater, as a little trimming of the two ends of the hole is 
all that is required. When the posts are green (and they should always be 
morticed when in that state), a good workman will make over 100 holes a day. 
The price paid in my time for the work was 1d. perhole. They were all three- 
rail fences thirty-five years ago, and a man could earn more than if he had only 
two holes to make in each post, because there was not so much shifting of 
timber when the holes were made. I remember, when I was at bush work, an 
argument being raised as to the number of three-rail posts a man could mortice 
in a day. It was stated that no man could earn 10s. a day at the work. 
maintained that he could if the posts were of bloodwood and quite green, The 
upshot was that “the other man” agreed to pay me 10s. if 1 could get 
through 120 holes in a day, making the day as long as I liked. Next morning 
we felled a bloodwood-tree and got 100 posts out of it. As I helped at the 
splitting, it may be imagined that my posts were as thin as was allowable. On 
the following morning I started work at daybreak. I had fourteen hours before 
me, and I bored my way through forty-seven of those three-rail posts before ib 
was quite dark. 
The morticing axe, if used for many hours continuously, is apt to jar the 
arm, owing to the straight, rigid handle and the long blade giving a shock at 
each blow, and on the following day my right arm was very much swollen, Of 
course a man would not work in such a fashion day after day. 
FENCING. 
We have now gone through all the processes necessary to enable us 10 
begin fencing. ‘The first thing to do now is to haul our stuff on to the line to 
be fenced. ‘The posts are laid down at intervals of 9 feet, and with each post 
two or three rails, as the case may be. They are laid a little off the line, so as 
not to interfere with digging the post-holes. Having laid down the fencing 
stuff, we start by putting in a stout round corner post, 1 foot or more in 
diameter. This post is morticed to correspond with the holes in the posts: 
The only difference is that the holes are not so wide, as only one rail is fitted 
into each, whilst the ends of two rails lie side by side in the other post-holes. The 
corner post is rammed solidly as soon as it is in correct position. 
Although one man can erect a fence, it is better and makes easier work if 
two are employed, one digging the holes, whilst the other dresses the rails and 
fits them into the posts. 
The post-hole digger measures his distance from hole to hole either by 4 
rail, or, better still, with a 9-foot sapling. Whilst he is sinking the hole, 
which should be 2 feet deep, 2 feet long, 15 inches wide, his mate dresses each 
end of the rails with an adze. He then saws into it some 6 inches from the end to 
make the rail fit the hole and to form a shoulder butting against the post. 
Placing the rails in the holes of the last post, he drops the next post into the 
hole prepared for it, and his mate helps him to setthe other ends into it. Looking 
over the top of the post, he sees that it is in line with the rest, and then with 
the maul drives the rail home till the shoulder is firm against the post. Keeping 
the last one upright, he rams it firmly at the bottom—*an inch at the bottom 
is worth afoot at the top” is a fencer’s motto. Then he gradually fills the 
hole, ramming as he goes, and when finished he starts at the next set. Should 
any of the rails prove “ windy,” a fit can be made by dressing the top side of 
one end rather thin and the bottom side of the opposite end. This has the 
effect of bringing the two ends more into line. A wrench with the morticing axe 
