Even Rich Pasture Is Ignored By Sheep

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1940, Page 18 (Supplement)

Even Rich Pasture Is Ignored By Sheep

An electric fence is serving Mr. E. H. Sriiith, of Ohariu Valley. very well indeed. His installation is run from a wet battery. One of the most interesting features of Mr. Smith's method of using his fences is the training pen in the sheep yards. This consists of a low two-wire fence across one corner of the yard. The part available to the sheep is quickly grazed bare, and in no time the stock are turning covetous eyes upon the luscious feed on the other side of the electric training fence. Hopefully, they "make a pass" at it, and then pull up all standing to have a look around to see who hit them. Once again they make the attempt, only to back away with a look of complete bafflement upon their faces. The long green grass can stay long and green as far as they are concerned.

At the end of the day's work the sheep are turned out into the paddocks, and only one attempt at the electrified wire there suffices to remind .them that a grass paddock underfoot is worth several on the other side of a fence which apparently hits back. Mr. Smith considers that the- ideal time to train sheep is just after shearing, when they have lost their wpol and are susceptible to shocks. In selecting the line of the fence, he takes care to avoid wet places, where there will always be rushes growing or very rough faces where the stock allow the grass to get long. If grass or rushes touch the bottom wire there is always the danger of the fence being rendered ineffective in damp weather. In his own words, the procedure Mr. Smith advises farmers to adopt is asfollows: — "Don't be afraid of steep dips, angles, or steep places. Select a» line which will allow you to take as much advantage as possible of the fact that posts may be well spaced out. Some of our posts are as much as 25 yards apart, but I should recommend 12 to 14 yards . as a maximum spacing. as the wires tend to sag on longer spans. "Lay out the following materials:— Strainers where it is intended to swing heavy gatesj a set of rails at the head of each gate if considered necessary as explained later; a pole at each gateway; good, solid, wooden posts for ends and angles; light 6ft. posts or iron standards in numbers varying from slightly less than two to the chain on flat country to five on extremely broken coun-

try; barbed wire as calculated according to grade used; a short batten in each dip; a number of old posts, etc., for use as bracing and footing material. "To erect the fence, first put in the end posts which, as already mentioned, need only be good, solid, fencing posts. On firrn ground staying is unnecessary, but they should be footed and crossbraced as shown " Sharp angles may be tied with a wire tie or braced like end-posts. A a slight angle. In placing an angle post it must be remembered that the wire will run some inches inside the post instead of around it, as in ordinary fencing . , "Run out a guide wire of No. 14 plain, which is far easier to handle than the barb which is ultimately used. Put in the dips and brows. Instead of footed posts we use a- batten swinging on No. 8

wire from a peg buried about 2ft. deep directly in the lifle of the fence This saves work, and by insulating the No. 8 wire as close to the batten -as possible, allows the barb to be stapled to the batten, thereby saving two inculators (8d at current ra tes). It is not advisable, however, to have more than two of these' batten feet together. The remainder of the posts are put in in the usual manner. Suitably drilled iron standard or ' light wooden posts may be used. "We use the following three-wire gauge: Bottom wire, 9£in.; middle, 21in.; top, 36in.; but . I should think that the two bottom wires should be slightly lower on clean, evenly-grazed flat cqun-, try, while the bottom wire would probably be better a little higher on rough danthonia or bracken country. The gauge

shciild be carefully marked on every post after it is in the ground. "The insulators may be either nailed with a 4in. nail or screwed on. If iron standards are used the insulators are bolted on. A leather or rubber washer must be put under the head of the nail or screw, and in the case of bolts there must also be a washer between the insulator and the standard. With leather washers it is advisable to punch the holes with a harness punch; otherwise, when the leather dries out the washers will crack and fall off. "Nailing is quick, but every miss with the hammer means the chance of a broken insulator. The insulators are placed so that the gauge mark for the wire runs above them on brows and below them in dips. The method of attaching insulators at ends and angles is shown

"We use the special 14-gauge barbed wire done up in 281b. coils, which are easily run out off a crowbar by one man. It- should be thoroughly stretched in the usual way. It merely needs to be taut, and there is no need for excessive straining. ' The barb is attached to- the insulators with 14-gauge tie wire. Anything lighter will cause troiible. Electric fences have been used on farms in Great Britain and the United States ' for a number of years, and their general introduction into New Zealand dates from about 1937. At first their use in the. Dominion was mostly confined to temporary breaks for roOt crops and barriers round hay stacks, but gradually their possibilities are being tested for. permanent fences, .especially on farms requiring subdivision.