THE ADVANTAGES OF BARB FENCING.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1765, 16 October 1879, Page 4

THE ADVANTAGES OF BARB FENCING.

[“Boston Journal of Commerce.”] Ever since the prairie countries of the ■world began to be utilised for grazing and agricultural purposes, the great embarrassment of the farmer and cattle raiser has been the necessary and inevitable expense of fences. Further than this, when he_ has, ■with infinite inconvenience, succeeded in inclosing his grown fields, or his grazing grounds, the viciousneas of a single member of his own, or of his neighbour’s herd, could at any moment render all his expense and pains of no avail, no matter how substantial or costly his fence. This condition of things has, for many years, entailed a large additional burden upon the farmers of the whole world. It is notorious that the largest farmers of the Western United States have for years regarded it as necessary, at certain stages of their crops, to employ mounted patrols by night, whose duty should be to prevent damage from the numerous cattle abounding in the vicinity, against which the ordinary fences of the country were of little avail. With the increase of that part of the country in wealth, and in population, and where so largo a portion of the property lay in growing crops and herds of cattle, the sense of insecurity, arising from the inefficiency of the best fences then in use, became intolerable. Scarcely three years ago, one of these Western farmers, incited by the inconvenience above referred to, inaugurated what promises to he a complete revolution in the system of fencing throughout the world. Twenty-five years’ experience as a practical farmer had taught this man that the cheapest fence that could bo constructed was a wire, strung upon posts in paralled lines. In fact, a fence constructed of this material, and in this way, coating but a fraction of the expense of any other practical fence, had been already adopted for years, by the great majority of the farmers of the Western States of America. This style of fencing, as efficient as any other known, infinitely cheaper than any other, lacked but a single essential to render it perfect and infallible for turning the most unruly cattle ; and the discovery of this feature and its adoption, has resulted in what is now known throughout the country as “Steel Barb Fencing.” This new fence is primarily the plain wire fence, with the addition of sharp barbs, or thorns, fixed firmly at short intervals upon the wires, transforming the old wire fence into a thorn hedge bristling with sharp points, which puncture at the slightest touch. The effect of this fence is magical. The wires which before were rubbed against with impunity, and thus strained out of place and rendered inefficient, by the addition of the barb or thorn were transformed into something to be avoided, and experience has fully demonstrated that no animal, however vicious, will voluntarily come in contact with a line of barb fencing a second time. Early in the history of the invention, the Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company, in connection with a Western house, purchased all the original patents having reference to barb fencing, and having made material improvements upon it, are manufacturing it with new and efficient machinery. Practical farmers have, from the first, been unanimous in the opinion that the barb fencing was exactly what was needed by the whole world as regards the two prime essentials of economy and efficiency ; but some, at first apprehended that valuable stock might be injured by the barb. Practice demonstrates that the injury from this cause is actually leas than that from any other style of fencing, so that the only objection or exception ever suggested by the most conservative, is effectually and for ever answered. To demonstrate the utility of this fence and the success which has already attended its introduction, we need only state the fact, that while three years ago this material has been heard of but by a few dozen farmers, there are to-day actually in use more than eight thousand tons, or sixteen million pounds.