The Spectator., 1916-02-01

(Prepared by the United States Depart-
 ment of AgricEltureD
 Under present conditions, says new publication of the United States department of agriculture, Bulletin No. 32l. wire fence is in many sections of the country the only satisfactory kind for the farmer to construct. Hedgerows, stone walls and rail fences are usually expensive to build re, quire much labor to maintain, occupy excessive ground space and form breeding places for weeds and insects. For these reasons the government in- yestigators found that in the north central states they are in general be- ing replaced as fast as thoT become unseyiceable. hy wire fencing.
 The kind and amount of this tenc- ing that a farm should have will be regulated largely by the kind of farm ing practiced and the size of the farm. The large farm requires proportion ately less fence than the small one, For example. a square ten-aCre field requires l6 rods of fence per acre, while a square field of one acre re- quires approximately 50 rods. More over. tinCe the crop rotations on a small farm usually require as many fields as those on a larger one, the small farm requires much more divi- sion fence ill proportion to its acreage than the large one.
 To give satisfactory service q farm fence must be able to turn all kinds of animals without injuring them and to be really economical it must pos sess durability. A short-lived fence that is erected at q low first cost may be very expensive investment.
 The type of wire fence to be select ed will depend on local conditions The bulletin already mentioned. which is a study of conditions in the north central states, contrasts. for example. conditions in western Dakota with those in Ohio. In Dakota the stock are mostly cattle. and large acreages are devoted to permanent pastures. Barbed wire fences which will turn cattle can be constructed much more cheaply than woven wire fences. and
 
 Dakota are almost as satisfactory. The saving of the few steers that may be lost as a result of wire cuts would not compensate for the higher cost of building and maintaining woven wire fences. On the other hand. ill Ohio the average farm has about 70 of it's 90 acres in crops. Cattle, horses, swine and sheep are pastured and on many farms some part of the land is always given up to pasture in the course of the year Under these con ditions the fence must be a general purpose one for which woven wire is best suited A barbed-wire fence that would be adequate for all kinds of stock would nearly equal in first cost a good woven wire fence and the cost of it's unkeep would be much greater. In addition there would be the danger of injury to stock. For this reason the farmers ot Ohio have mostly ahan- doned the use of barbed wire.
 In constructing a woven wire fence it is better to cconomize by the eiim- ination of unnecessary wires rather than by the selection of light grade wire. The initial cost of the heavy wire is greater but it's durability is more than sufficient to offset this dis i adyantage The cost of construction. exclusive of the wire itself, is prac- tically the same whether light grade of woven wire is used or heavier one. and as the heavier material lasts so much longer this cost Is distributed over longer time. The repair costs for the heavier types of fencing are also less, The influence of these facts is shown in the increase in the per centage of heavy wire sold for fencing purposes in the last five years. On many farms, however, it IS no: neCes, sary to have close spacing in the fences. Cattle. sheep and horses are turned more easily than swine, and where no swine are kept the first cost : of the fence can be materially reduced by eliminating the wires that are not needed for the other stock
 Where all classes of stock are kept good general purpose fence is one i WhlNh hRo UGH illit wires and total height of about four feet The bottom wires are spaced about three inches apart and strand of barbed wire is stretched across the top to prevent stock from putting their heads over the fence and crowding it down. The cost of such a fence. con structed from durable materials, in cluding posts. wire and labor. is esti mated at 93l2 cents rod It's upkeep including repairs and interest at five per cent on the average value of the investment, will amount to about nine cents year p, rod. To this should be added the interest on the land which the fence occupies. It has beer calculated that each rod Of wire fence withdraws about 109 square feet from