Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1914-11-27
Building Wire Fence.
Editor ofthe Beacon.

agent visited me and talked oats, wheat.
peanuts and sheep for two or three
hours. During the course of CONVERSE
tion the question of fences and fence
building arose. This letter is an out
growth of nv talk with the special
agent. He asked me to write an arti-
Gle for the county paper expressing
some ideas on fencing.
II 1t will be bit difficult to say much
clearly in p short space, but shall con-
dense as much as is compatible with
lcoherence. | shall assume that we'll
Zlnigh every farmer in the county knows
as well as l, probably better, how to
build a fence, likewise what is. and
tfwhat is not a good post. NV discus
sion bears upon wire and only woven
Vwire. Barbed wire is standardized
commodity and therefore practically
uniform in quality.
h Much good fence building has been
hone in the county; vastly more needs
Ito be done. This letter is especially
k1addressed to the farmer who is now
1about to purchase fencing materials.
There are several important factors
injecting fencing quality, among which
&re-size of wire, perfection in galvan-
RIzing, grade of iron or steel composing
Ehe vie, aud the method of securing
4r "tying" together the vertical or stay
Nires and the horizontal or stringing
wires. Let us consider these in reverse
jbrder to that named.
ID Stay or vertical wires are designed
MAINLY to hold the horizontal wires Sc
tnrely at a specified distance apart
races if you please. They should
therefore be bound securely in place so
4 hat no slipping or at least minimum
4 + slipping will take place If these
Pires may be easily displaced they will
J bon be crowded together at places ana
their effectiveness lost. The weld union
or tie would appear on the surface to
he ideal. Practically, however, there
ire objections to this tyne of wire.
Breaking at or near the wefds and cor
fosiOn ut the same place have not GER
ain'y been eliminated by manufacturers
uo use this method of tieing. The
TO motion of corrosion or rusting and a
eakening of the -Wise at the YIELDS are
uite subject to explanation, but such
EXPLANATION would take ls into the tech
to..l fai+tkf rtiJsicd, c,te.nis1ry. y 4
Wires tied by merely taking a turn
r two of the stays around the horizon
ll wires are open to the practical OBJ
|ction that they don't stay put From
physical and mechanical standpoint
e best tie seems to be that of sepa-
ate piece of wire, so fixed about the
oss of the stay and horizontal that it
ngages both in a strong bind, in fact |
should spring both into slight oppos-
hg humps at point of contact 1t will
e seen at once that this furnishes sew
raj friction points to guard against |
Tipping.
Chemically pure iron resists corrosion
narkably. A shaft of pure iron, IA
bus throughout the world, has stood |
posed and without care for many cen,
ries at Delhi in India. | have my
If seen and crossed many times in
.nnsylvania an old iron bridge, which
ough unpainted has stood many de-
des without deterioration. Pure iron as
'ust resister would be ideal fencing.
lacks tensile strength, however, to
eet requirements, and furthermore is
pensive Open hearth steel, without
/ he temper of tools, is more rust resis-
ant and just as strong as Btssemer
'ocess steel. 1t therefore seems bet
IL suited to wire making.
Galvanizing is an occult art as far as
e lay reader is concerned, hence a
eat deal of fraud and equivocation
Re to be found in advertising concern
g it. Perfect commercial galvaniz-
g depends on three things, viz: The
lrity of the zinc or "Spelter" used,
be cleanliness of the surface to be gal
.nized, and the temperature at which
latively free of the metals, lead, iron
cadmium, since above definite
centage each will cause cracking
he galvanized coat and will quicken
'rosion. The iron surface should be
IN so that no ungalvanized spots or
IN holes" will be left. AT such places
rosion centers originate. If during
5vanizing temperature control is not
1t carefully within definite limits gal
hizing Will be impaired. If the tenn
.ature is too low there results an ir-
ular coat which is. just sticking on,
later will easily peel off. If tenn
kature ia too hiph a. rather thick brit
layer of zinc Iron alloy, covered with
hin coating of zinc will be formed.
g type of galvanizing cracks easily
chirs off. Proper galvanizing de-
Ids on the formation of thin layer
u his zinc iron alloy and a taking on
thicker coat of zinc itself.
se best test to put galvanizing to is to
4 the wire into tight ''coil spring"
around quarter inch to half inch
A depending on the size of the wire,
d e piece of the wire itself for a
eEe. If there is no cracking or peel
n up of the zinc or are no, situations
&falell to the wire, indicating splitting,
n may safely be concluded that the gal
] Anizing is first class. Chemical tests
= those unversed in chemistry mean
thing. and entirely misleading conrlu-
IL rs may be drawn. One manufactu-
" sent me sample of his wire with
! Recommendations to put 1t to certain
Semical test. Knowing at the outset
at the test would prove nothing and