Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-01-08
AGRICULTURAL NOTES.
Fences and Fence Material.


agricultural sections, the expense of keep
ing up fences has always been serious
drawback on agricultural advancement. 1t
has been carefully estimated that the fences
of the United States in their present con-
dition have cost the agriculture OF the
country the enormous sum of 8, 900, 000,-
GOO. 1t costs about 10 per cent. of this
sum annually to keep these fences in re-
pair-this Is equal to 100000. 600 year
Until about twelve years ago tim
Der was the almost exclusive mate
rial used for fencing agricultural
lands throughout the world. About
that time, in sections where timber
was scarce and expensive, people began to
experiment with wire for fencing. The
first wire fences in this State were intro
duced about that time. They were intro
uuced in the great Mississippi valley, on
the vast prairies of that country, at about
the same time. At first single wire was
used, and it was soon found that there
were very serious objections 70 this style OF
fence. In the first place, they were ex-
banded and contracted so much with heat
and cold that the fences could not be kept
in shape to turn cattle, and then by the
contractions breakages often occurred Be-
sides, stock would run against and rub
against it. and IL this way break down the
fence and expose the crops to destruction.
It was seen. however that wire fences could
be built so much cheaper than timber
fences that loud call was made on the IN
ventive genius of the country to devise
some means of overcoming these objec
tions Something was wanted to prevent
stock from running or rubbing against 1t
and knocking it down, and man by the
name of William D. Hunt, of the State OF
New York, was the first to introduce a
device for this purpose. He cut wheel
with spurs to prick the stock, and hole IL
the center, and slipped these wheels on the
single wire, so that when cattle got against
them they would be pricked, and thus be
taught to shun the fence. This device was
the first patent in the direction of barbed
wire fence. This did not affect the ques
ton of expansion at all, and it was
soon found that as the wheels
would slip on the wire they soon became
punched together, and in this condition
were useless to keep the cattle away from
the fence. Here was another call for the
exercise Of inventive genius, and this call
was soon answered effectively by an inven-
ton of Michael Kelly, who conceived and
put into practice the idea of twisting a
second wire around the one on which the
spurred wheels were strung in such way
that it held the wheels firmly in place.
This invention brought to the wire fence
both the needful points to make it practical
and effective. The second wire being
twisted, to a certain extent lessened or
counteracted the extension and contraction
of the strand, and at the same time made
tn, barbs or spurs Of the wheels effective
to keep stock away from the fence, by
holding them IN position to prick them
whenever they came against it. Wire
fences were in this stage of Advancement,
when IN 1874 Joseph f. Glidden of De
Kalb county, Ill, made an improvement
by substituting for the spurred sheet
metal wheel, barb made of wire and so
interviewer or twisted In with the two
wires that it was held permanently in
Mace. and made to answer the purpose,
keepine stock away from the fence by
p-icking them when they touched it. In
this shape wire fences began to come into
general use, and it was seen by
shrewd men that in its manu-
faoture a great and profitable in
dustry was rapidly growing up in the
country. Inventive genius had another
and many other calls to devise different
eontrivances and shifts by which barbs
could be made and held to place on the
wires in such a manner as to avoid the
PATENTS already named. Invention also
took the direction of machinery for the
manufacture of these various styles of
fence, till we had as many styles of wire
fence as we had large agricultural houses
IN the different towns and cities through
out the country, The manufacture and
sale of wire fences of the different kinds
was becoming one of the most extensive
and most profitable industries in the whole
country. Wire fences were taking the place
of timber fences all over the civilized world.
Thousands of manufacturers, mechanics,
merchants and laborers OF every descrip-
ton were making profits from the various
branches of the business. Some years
since Washburn & Moen, wire manufact-
uring firm in Worcester, Mass, seeing the
prospect Of an increasing business in the
direction of wire fence making went into
a full and elaborate Investigation of the
relative cost of timber and wire fences,
and being convinced by their investigation
that wire must supersede timber as fence
material, they then took up the study of
the various patents for making wire fences.
The result was that this firm became the
owners of the Hunt patent of spurred
wheel on a single wire, and of the Kelly
patent which brought into use the second
wire, and so twisted it around the
6rst and the wheel as to hold
the latter in place. They were then
in condition to negotiate with the owner
of the sGlidden patent, which substituted
the wire barb fo- the spurred wheel. This
they did, and thus they had all the valu-
able principles involved in making cheap
and effective wire fence. The next move
was to enforce the patents they owned.
This they undertook some years since by
commencing actions against manufacturers
of all other kinds in the United States for