Fences, Gates, and Bridges: A Practical Manual (Classic Reprint)

FENCES, GATES AND BRIDGES. OIIAPTEU I. RAIL AND OTHER PR"DUTIVE ""OOD FENCEa. VIRGI~[A RAIL FE~CE. The zigzag rail fcnce was almost nniYcrsally adopt-ed by the settlers in the heavily timbered portions of the countn', 8,11d COllll tlcss thollsallds 01 miles of it still exist, though the increasing scarcity of timber has brought other styles of fencing largely into use. Propcrly built, of good material, on a clear, solid bed, kcpt free from bnshes 3,nd other growth to shade it and cause it to rot, the rail fence is as cheap as alJy, and a.s cffcctivcand durable n5 can reasonably be desired. Good chestnut, oak, cedar, or juniper rails, or original growth heart pine, ",-ill last froUl fifty to a hundred ycurs, so thnt material of this sort, once ill hand, 'will serve on() or two generations. This fence, ten rails high, and propped with two ralls at each corner, requires twelve ra.ils to the panel. If tho fence bed is' five foet, wide, and the rails arc ol~veD


Table of Contents

TABLE OF COX'rBNTS --; CUAPl'Elt I; RaU and of her Primitive Fences _~'-_ ____ : _ • _ •• ___ _ _ 7 17; V1~ln1a Rall Fence; Lallng a Hail Fence; Staking; nnd ~ iling; A Fence of Stages and Riders; A Pole; Fonce; F cnccs lor Soil Liable to Reae; Other Primitive; Fenccs ; CHAl"TER II; Stone 4nd Sod Fcllces-_____ ______________ _; How a Stone Wall Should 00 BuUt; Building a St,one; Fence i Tl'lck for rtfo,oilJg StoneH; He-juforciog a Stone; Wall; A Composite Fcnce; A PtaIne Sod Fence; CHAPTER IlL; 1~ 23; Doard Fences _ ________________ _ ___ ___ • __ • ___ - --- -- --- ---- 24- 30; ~unillng Board FeuC!es: FeDC!e3 for Land Subjoot to; Overflow; a Fence-Bqardl101der ; Re-inforelllg a UO~el; l·once; CHAPTER IV_; Picket Fences _ ___ _ • __ _ __ ___ _ __ __ ____ _____ 81- 42; A Oood Garden Fence; A Southern Picket Fence i; It'ence8 of Spli