The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1910-09-23
THE FENCE POSTS OF IOWA
From the u. s. Department
of Agriculture, Forest
Service

Washington, September 2O.-The
u. S. Department of Agriculture es-
Inmates that the farmers Of the sim
gle State of Iowa use every year
81, 400, 900 worth of new fence posts,
which cost the equivalent Of $60O,6OO
for setting them in the ground.
Further: the Department officials be-
lieve that a part of this expenditure
might be saved.
The opportunity for economy is
found, first, in using the kinds OF
posts which, taking into account both
cost and durability, are cheapest in
the long run, and secondly, by treat
ing the posts to prevent decay, par
ticularly those which decay most
quickly. When a farmer sets a post
which will have a comparatively
short life, he loses not only through
having to buy a new post but also be-
cause of the additional labor involved
in setting 1T. 1t is true that in both
cases no money outlay may be in
volved, for he may set the posts him
self, after getting them from his own
woodlot. OF the posts used last year
in Iowa, seventy per cent, it is esti-
mated, were grown on the farms
where they were used, or were OBJ
tained from other farmers or woodlot
owners, alld only thirty per cent were
bought from lumber dealers. Never
theless, the farmer is out his labor
and the part Of the product Of his
woodlot which is used up, even
though he does not pay out any cash.
The facts concerning the use Of
fence posts in Iowa were bought out
by an investigation which the De-
partment Of Agriculture has been
making through inquiries sent to
farmers. Several Thousand replies
have been used in compiling the
figures, which, combined with
statistics issued by the Iowa State
Board Of Agriculture as to the num-
Der of farmers and the acreage, fur
nished the totals. According to these
totals about 10, 0 900 posts are called
for yearly to build and repair fences
on 2O9, 1853 farms, Of an average size
of 158 1-2 acres each.
The average life of a fence post is
stated to be fourteen years and the
average cost I2.7 cents. There Is,
however, great difference in the last
Ing properties of different woods.
Usage orange lasts more than five
times as long as willow does, and for
length of service it heads the list of
post timbers in the State. The COM
parative life of other posts is shown
in the following list, ranging from
the longest period to the shortest:
Red cedar, locust, white oak, north
ern white cedar Tor %arborvitae), catal-
pa, black walnut, butternut, red oak
and willow.
The average cost of posts varies fol
different woods, and for the same
woods in different localities. Red
cedar Is most expensive, at an aver
age of 26 81 cents each, and willow
the cheapest, at 6 cents.
Taking into consideration the time
. post will last, and the cost Of buy.
Ing It and setting it in the ground,
the. conclusion must be drawn that
the Usage orange post is the most
economical in Iowa, followed by white
oak, locust, catalpa, red cedar, black
walnut, bntternut, willow, white
cedar and redoak in the order named,
Comparatively few posts Of some
OF these woods are used. Catalpa and
butternut together do not constitute
49,