A FEW WORDS ABOUT FENCES AND FENCING.

Otago Witness, Issue 1866, 26 August 1887, Page 6

A FEW WORDS ABOUT FENCES AND FENCING.

The rabbit and small bird pests,in conjunction with .its persistence in spreading and the difficulty of eradicating it, have resulted in the very general condemnation of the gorse hedge. Ib is claimed for it that it has the advantage of affording very welcome .shelter to stock during rough weather ; but if the ' matter were gone about with forethought but little trouble would be experienced in providing a substitute for this description of hedge even in this respect, and one which, while it possessed all the advantages of gorse, would be devoid of its drawbacks. In the case of small homestead paddocks ' or very large high hedges a limited number of animals certainly do find protection from cold piercing wiads on the lee side of gorse hedges, but from wet and frost it is not of very great service., In large paddocks, on the other hand, how rarely do we see stock taking shelter along the hedges.: Are they not of tener to be seen in hollows and; gullies ? In deciding on the nature of a fence! the question of shelter might be relegated' to a back position, since trees are to be had now at so small a cost, and' the planting out! is so inexpensive,; while under favourable cir- ( cumstances the plantations provide both more shelter and much more efficient protection from' winds and from frost and even wet than gorse.

How many who do fence give a thought to' the fact that it is not merely in the value of the' structure as a protection against stock invading the cornfields, or in preventing neighbours'* stock from trespassing, that a fence is of" benefit. Were many who erect fences to reflect and bear, in mind the increased value of the, land fenced, and, indeed; the whole property,! fewer mean, 'slovenly, and ill-kept fences would be seen. Who would give as* much' for a property badly and insufficiently fenced as for a, securely-fenced farm, with the fences in good' condition ? And yet a strong, durable fence] can .be' constructed at a cost ,no greater than a badly put up one. To put cheap and; bad material into a fence is simply madness, and no practical man would surely resort to; such folly .unless he was endeavouring to defraud his landlord or was on the verge oi bankruptcy. Fencing is one of the" most expensive operations a selector or farmer has to undertake, arid as it gives no immediate or directt returns it is frequently undertaken in a grudg-j ing spirit. Nevertheless fencing pays interest on the money expended indirectly through* everything produced"on"the farm. Though it would be utterly futile to attempt to farm with-! out fences, many men strive to make farming; pay with their fence 9in such a dilapidated condition!that they have to engage'labour'to,' hunt the stock off their cornfields and patch up, the" gaps. " The latter are as frequently as not the gates, or rather the apologies for such. In; other cases two or three pieces of rails, an old' sheepskin, a sack, and a piece or two of scrub, and some, wire tangled up, suffice to put up a chain of " fence."- Such' stopgaps always indicate bad management. Gates are of even more importance than the fence itself , for stock invariably go for timber to force an entrance in preference to wire. As with the fence, the first ' cost of a good gate is not greater than of an indifferent one, and there is, not the expense of constant repairing. It takes as long to mend a badly-broken gate as to make a new one, and the material required in the mending is dead loss. A patched gate is never so strong as a sound one, and is always an^eyesore ; therefore a gate that will stand the'longest possible time should always be put up. It is generally when the crops are ripening that the draught horse stock is idle, and then they are most apt to get into mischief. The damage done by teams breaking- into a crop would amount to more than tne i cost' of- several gates.' With draught horses, in particular, it is the case that once they acquire the habit of trying for a weak spot in a fence it is difficult or impossible to break them of it. It is therefore a payable policy in the end to have always good strong gates, hung well, and with secure fastenings. We have often heard it asserted that a man's ability to manage a place can safely be judged by his fences and gates, and that there is a good deal of truth in the aphorism we firmly believe. Timber that decays- at an, early period — such as manuka, birth (common), poplar, wattle, or Finns insignis^should not be used, if ;it is possible to obtain more durable wood. Nothing is more unsatisfactory than having to cart out a post every now and again to replace one gone,

The replacing will engage two men and a horse and dray;half, a day, Bhouid.thergapbe anyTdistance from the homestead. The posts, if practicable, should be of one timber, and . asjjear_a size as "possible," so "that" they will "stand and fall; 'together, and* this extras expenditure' be thus avoided. ■; Goai }1 totaraj and broadleaf Wake very durable poßts-7§he Utter bein'g 1 particularly noted for its longstanding; but, like most good things, it is not easily obtained in straight lengths long enough,, for strainers, , gate posts, and hold downs. Picked condemned railway /sleepers' 'make excellent heavy posts', -and, if sawn -down, good intermediates. Itris 1 not advisable to try and split them, however, as success is very problematical, <sq that halving them-can only be profitably done at a mill.