THE ART OF FENCING.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXII, Issue 4335, 28 October 1921, Page 4

THE ART OF FENCING.

LECTURE TO FARMERS’ UNION. POINTS WORTH NOTING. How to erect a wire fence formed the subject of an interesting paper read by Mr R. J. McCausland at a meeting of the Morrinsville branch of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union, states the Morrinsville “Star?’ Mr McCausland illustrated his

points by black-board drawings. He was listened to with keen interest. He said in tendering his paper on fencing he wished, the members to understand that he did not desire to pose as an expert, authority on the subject. He thought; that as every, farmer found it necessary at times to boundary'fence or sub-divide his paddocks, the paper might bring out in t,he discussion a lot/ of useful information both, to himself and other members of the farming community Fences varied in their use, said Mr McCausland ; but the fence a farmer was interested in was for the division of st.ock or for boundary purposes l , as it was a well-known axiom that good fences made good neighbours. Fences were usually nowadays composed of posts), wire, and battens. In times now gone by, when timber was more plentiful, especially in bush districts, post and rail fences- were common, and no doubt many would remember the laborious work of boring, morticing, and fitting rails. The price per chain then would compare mor;e than favourably with the erection of. a post and wire fence nowadays when the cost of labour and material was so much dearer. In the South Island, especially on high tussock country and on the plains where timber was scarce, iron standards and wire were common, and he had seen many miles of standard fencing which had been erected over very difficult and rocky country. However, what farmers in the Waikato were more concerned about was what was the best type of fence, taking into consideration .the cost of material and labour ? Mr McCausland contended that, giving all due consideration to efficiency and economy, three posts and 15 battens to the chain and seven wires made the right fence. No doubt four,, or five, or even six, posts to the. chain would make a stronger fence, and with eight wires would almost) be termed (with battens) mouse proof. Bu.t for all practicable purposes a well-erected fence on the lines he had suggested would prove a very effective one. The fence line had a very large bearing on the amount of labour and time necessary to make a reliable and secure job, and if it was a boundary fence the fencer had to go frpra peg to peg no matter what the condition of the country. . If it was hilly he would have to fence up steep faces, along sidling®, across creeks, sharp dips, and would probably have roca to contend with. Taking hilly country, .in ..erecting a fence naturally the first thing to do was to put down securely and well the two strainers.

which, he suggested, should be 10 to 12 chains apart, where practicable, for a tension was easier kept on a long strain than on ,a short one. Should any slaskness occur, such as expansion of wire or drawing, it would be spread along a greater distance. The lecturer said he had seen straining posts put in solid rocky country that would not require footing, but it was always wise to foot .a strainer and an angle post, as it would be a difficult matter to repair such neglect should the strainer or angle ’post come up once the flence had been erected. This was a very common occurrence, especially after heavy, ratn, / In footing various methods were employed,, said Mr McCausland. There was the fixed foot, that is, the foot that was strongly attached to the post before it was placed in the ground. The dove-tailed foot was one of these, also the wired on foot. Then there were the peg and the detached foot,

the latter a very good one for a temporary ferine, for as it was fastened by a length of double wire from the foot to the straining post at the surface of the ground, it could be detached by knocking the staples put with a crowbar should the fence be required to. be removed. Having fixed the straining post in position with the foot well undercut into either bank, it was a good thing to put a piece of timber at the heel of! the post the full width of the hole, and when filled in and rammed,, a 4 x. 3,4 ft long should be attached as a breast. Care should be taken that the straining post be slightly out of plumb away from the strain. If a breast be put in this could be done by driving a wedge between the breast and straining post. If an ordinary large-sized fencing post were put in carefully a very good straining post could be made of it. I,t often occurred that there was a hill or perhaps two obspuring one end of strain from the other. It would be necessary in that case to strike a line by the use of two poles at a position on the line where the fencer could see either strainer. Having struck a line he could proceed to erect posts on the points indicated by the sight-

ing poles, and he could then run nis guide wire out. The fencer would then have a good line by which to erect his stays and posts.

In fixing the stay there were a great many ways not to do it, said Mr McCausland. Personally, he preferred to mortice the stay into the straining post. There were many different ways of footing a stay, but what, one wanted was to get the greatest resistance for the foot of the stay, also the right angle. Sometimes a stay, if. improperly set, would act as a “Samson” and life the strainer. As the wires should pull from the centre of the straining post, it would be necessary to mortice the stay on the post side of the strainer. In the Waikato district an ordinary post was generally used for a stay. To fix a post as a stay, it should, be morticed in, about midway from ground to the top of the strainer, but the longer the slap the nearer the fencer could go

to the top. A good stay should be nine or ten feet long. An angle post in a fance should be weM footed in a similar way as rescribed ftp a strainer.. It should be well stayed by a line stay and a centre stay, or by two line stays if a right or acut.e angle. Although the fencer had decided to erect three posts per chain, he would find that according to the lay of the ground he would have to aveirage the posts,. Some parts of the line might require the posts being placed close. At other places they might be kept further apart. Where there was any tendency to a dip, the post should be footed. The fencer should be sure the post would hold. He would find that in doing this would save after trouble, and would ensure a tight fence. . Continuing, Mr McCausland said that having got the strainers in, the line wire out, and the stays set, the work of Meeting the pos,ts began. Post-hole digging varied in different classes of country, but whatever the nature of z thie sinking, the fencer often wished the holes could be purchased like the posts—by the tiruck load. The main thing about digging post holes was not to take any more earth out than required. Some Holes, on account of the rough nature of the posts, had to be made to order. In erecting the posts it, was necessary for the fencer to study the nature of the timber he was putting in. If totara he could place either the back or the quarter to the wire, but with puriri, broadleaf, kbhai, birch, or Hinau it was always better to put the quarter to the .wire p,s the staples he'ld better. The length of the posts out of the ground should be or 4£t lin. The lecturer preferred 4ft tin, as in stapling the top wire tin from the top of the post, the fencer would then have liis fence 4ft high. A good way to get the posts of an even height was for the fencer tib mark his rammer the height he wanted the posts from the ground . This was necessary on account of fencing posts varying in length. In fencing hilly country 'he posts should be erected at rfght angles to the lay of the ground, but on flat country the fencer shoud-keep .them plumb. Now that the posts and strainers were in, these should all be

marked with the gauge intended for the wire. -A good gauge for eight wires from the ground up .was, in inches', 5,4%, 4%, 5,5%, 6,7, 10% ; for a seven-wire fence, 5,5%, 5% 5%, 6%, 8, 11. The plain wires could now be run out on the "jtamjr,’* a very useful ap pliance usually to be found on every farm. Mr McCausland said it was a matter of opinion and depended on the nature of the stock run on a farm as to where to place barb wire on a fence. The usual t wayi, he thought, was to have the top plain, the second barb, and the balance plain. A very useful and safe fence, but more expensive, was one with the t ; op wire jfiain. the seconu barb, the third plain, and the fourth barb. In cattle country he had often seen the top and the

third .wires barb, but, dairymen usually had an objection to the top wire mg Lai bed. In stapling care should be taken to skew the staple a little. Staples should never .be put in in a row down the post, as that had a tendency to split the wood and let the staples drop out. This also applied to battens. The wire could be strained at the straining post by use of a dummy wire and wire-strainer. In undulating or hilly country, by using a little judgment the wire could be strained at the ppst just enough to allow it to be prpperly .tightened.when stapling down dips. In, putting on the battens care should be taken t.o drive home the second to top and second to hot? tom staples. This would pi event the battens looking like members of the Farmers’ Union going home from a dinner. (Laughter.) . Having completed the fence thus far a further improvement could be made by going along the fence with a spade, levelling off bumps that were too close to the bottom wire and filling in hollows that might, allow a lamb through,

In fencing along a sfdling it was important to the life of a fjence to bench a track .about 6ft or 7ft wide and erect the fence on the outer, edge. This allowed stock to go along without tramping the higher ground against the fence, thus often burying the lower wires. Mr McCausland said there were several features pertaining tp fencing that he had not touched on, such as “anchoring” a post, angle, or strainer, which was sometimes necessary on account of the lay of the country. Mr McCausland illustrated how a creek should be fenced with hanging battens that floated on the surface o! the water in flood times, letting debris through, and hanging down to the normal level of the creek when the flood had subsided. . The hour was late when Mr McCausland was callted upon to speak, and there was little discussipn following the reading of the paper. A hearty vote of thanks was passed to the/lecturer.