by Todd Waterman
Drawings by James Heck with Photos
by Allen Gage, Linda Lee, Ruth Massey, David Massey.
Some farmers in the
Ozarks would cut their timber for rails between the months of July and
September because they believed that if they cut while the sap was up, that
worms and insects would not infest the wood. Other farmers preferred to cut and split the rails in cooler weather.
Ova said, "It's best to cut the rails in the winter or early spring. If
the timber is frozen, it splits better." Also the winter was a slack time.
Many farmers worked in the woods all winter cutting rails and other timber
products for their own use…
To build the fence the farmer needed more than just the rails, for there was more to it than simply stacking up the rails one on top of another. First he had to stake out the fence row. For this some cut a sapling about two or three inches in diameter and five to six feet long. Then with the chopping ax, they would strip the bark off of two opposite sides of the sapling to reveal the light colored wood below, making the pole more visible. They jabbed these poles into the ground along the desired fence row about sixty feet apart, or closer if the fence line ran over a hill. They jabbed the first pole in the ground at the beginning point. They placed the second pole at the other end of the fence row. To get the straight line between the poles, someone held a third pole between the two poles, while another person, squatted beside the first pole. He sighted down the line, motioning to his partner either to right or left, to get the pole lined up. That pole was then stuck in the ground. The other stakes to mark the fence row were set in the same fashion. This line dictated the point of the angle of either the inside of the fence or the outside. When using poles in this fashion, there was no need for ropes or strings…Modern farmers with high labor costs and huge acreages and large herds to care for, even using power saws cannot afford to spend the time needed to build and maintain rail fences, which when built, would have less than half the life of a wire fence.
Perhaps an even greater factor contributing to their decline was fire, especially if built near wooded areas which were usually burned off every spring. Jim said, "One trouble with rail fences, they would catch the leaves in the fall of the year and pile up sometimes two feet deep around them. Then when the fire got out, why to try to keep from burning the fence up, it was just next to impossible. We'd go down through, tearing the rail fence down, throwing the rails out trying to keep them from all burning up...
The
American Farmer: A Complete Agricultural Library, with Useful Facts for
the Household (1884)
FARM FENCES.
“Under the usages and customs of a former
generation, who, in settling their country, first cleared a field and then
fenced and cultivated it, permitting the farm stock to run in the uncleared
portions, this system of fencing was inaugurated. But the necessities of that
remote period are not the necessities of to-day, and the customs and usages of
that generation are not essential to the present…
While fences on a farm seem, to a certain extent, to
be a necessity, yet, according to the former custom of fencing, they are far
more extensive than is essential, except, perhaps, in the prairie regions; and
that which is spent in making and keeping them in repair might much more
profitably be appropriated to other purposes.
Surplus fences are not only expensive and
unprofitable, but they are an incumbrance to the land. Many of them are so
constructed that they take up valuable land that might otherwise be under
cultivation, such as the stone walls common in many portions of New England,
the zigzag or Virginia fence, etc. Besides, the general appearance of a farm
that is not divided by numerous lines of fences is much more in conformity with
good taste.
Fences furnish a place for weeds to grow and ripen
their seed, which are scattered by the wind over the land; they also are a safe
harbor for mice, rats, and other pests.
Unnecessary fences on a farm, are, therefore, not
only a useless expense, and an obstruction to cultivation, but a disfigurement
to the landscape, and a harbor for weeds and vermin; and if the amount of
unproductive labor which they incur were reduced, great benefit would be
derived, since by so doing, the productiveness of the farm would be practically
increased, without any increased outlay in labor, money, or draft upon the
fertility of the soil. In some parts of
New England, the old division and highway fences have been removed, which
has greatly increased the general attractiveness of such farms, as well as the
towns in which they are located. The owners have by this means improved the
general appearance of their farms, and reduced the expense of maintaining them.
In almost every State in New England there are
examples of such improvements, which are gradually extending. Among the many
places made especially attractive by this means might be mentioned Cherryville,
in South Manchester, Conn.; also, Amherst, Mass., and vicinity. Very few fences
are also seen in some of the river valleys, where the annual inundations would
sweep them away.
To what extent farm fences are essential will depend
somewhat upon different conditions and circumstances. The crops must, of
course, be protected. This protection may be furnished by fencing the farm
animals in, appropriating a certain portion of the farm to this purpose, or by
enclosing the cultivated fields by fences, and thus fencing them out. Where the
law requires every owner of farm-stock to keep his animals on his own land, or
to be responsible for all damage done by them, highway fences will not be
necessary, since the owners, being made liable for such damage, will be careful
to keep them confined to their own premises. The fences required in such
sections, therefore, are those that will keep each owner's animals confined on
his own premises, and not such as shall fence out those of his neighbors;
consequently, pasture fences, and fences about some of the farm buildings, will
be all the permanent ones that are essential. 'Where soiling is commonly
practiced, even pasture fences could be dispensed with.
In those sections where the statute law and custom
require a highway and division fence, a boundary fence will be essential, but
the law and custom may be changed, and if farmers use their influence in
securing the enactment and enforcement of stringent laws in respect to
restraining stock, this may be accomplished, and highway fences be rendered
unnecessary.
Farm animals that are not under the direct charge of
a keeper, who is responsible for the injury they may do, should never be
tolerated in the highway. Such toleration would be detrimental to the best
agricultural interests of the country. If certain portions of the farm, aside
from the common pastures, are desired to be used as pasturage at any time, such
as mowing-lands for a season in the fall, movable fences may be used, similar
to the hurdle fences, so extensively employed in England. As a general rule,
the permanent fences necessary, except where boundary and division fences are
required, will be those for the pasture, and around farm buildings, such as
barns and sheds. A temporary fence can occasionally be used when necessary,
which will secure the convenience of a permanent one without its disadvantages,
and for this purpose a movable fence, as previously recommended, is the most
desirable.
In
England and other portions of Europe, when cattle and sheep are pastured where
there are no fences, a shepherd is employed to take charge of
them, who, with the assistance of a well-trained dog, will keep large flocks
and herds under perfect control, and as strictly confined to prescribed limits
as though there were fences for this purpose. This practice of employing shepherds is based upon the principle that
it is less expensive to take care of the herds than to keep up the fences.
Removing Fences.—We would recommend to all farmers
the maintaining only of such fences on the farm as are absolutely necessary for
the safety of the crops, and the confinement of the stock, and the removal of
all such as are not essential. Unnecessary fences on a farm are an expensive
nuisance…(T)he removal of the
stone-walls, however, that are found in many parts of New England, would
involve much labor and expense, and in some instances it is questionable
whether their removal would pay for all the expenditure of time and labor that
would be required to accomplish the object. This would depend upon the
locality of the wall, the improvement and convenience secured by its removal,
and the use to which the stones could be appropriated, or the facility with
which they might be gotten out of the way. Many of these walls have been built
for a century or more, and have been kept in repair from generation to
generation. They were appropriated to this use, originally, partly because the
fences were considered a necessity, and partly as a means of getting rid of the
stones by which the land was encumbered. What to do with the stones, in
removing such fences, would be the question to be considered. The best and most
practical way of disposing of them is to use them where they will be a benefit
in drainage. On nearly every farm there are wet lands that require drainage,
and by using these incumbrances of the land for this purpose, acres of new or
virgin soil may be secured for cultivation that might otherwise be nearly
worthless for agricultural purposes.
Ravines and swales may also bo filled with stones,
while many may be utilized for the foundation of farm buildings, and thus in
one way and another they can be disposed of in a manner that will increase the
value of the farm.
Stone Heaps
Mr.
Starr, the former proprietor of the famous Echo Farm, settled the perplexing
question of what to do with the stones in clearing his fields of them, in a
manner that may be of advantage to some other farmers to imitate who have this
difficulty to meet.
Selecting
an untillable spot in a field in which there were one or two natural mound-like
hillocks, a large pile of stones was made, consisting of several hundred loads,
and, as an experiment, this pile was covered with tussocks of coarse
swamp-grass, which are hard of decomposition. These were inverted, covering the
stones. On this foundation, a light dressing of soil was placed, and grass-seed
sown.
This experiment proved
a success; the grass soon grew over this artificial mound, which appeared to
bear the protracted droughts even better than the natural ones, while the first
showers made them conspicuously green.
From time to time these mounds have been extended
and multiplied, and in all cases proved a success. The object was not to form
new land, but to dispose of the stones. Whenever practicable, natural
depressions may be made use of for depositing stones. By such means the surplus
stones may be gotten rid of without being an encumbrance to the land, or
marring its appearance, and also without being a place in which noxious weeds,
briars, and shrubs will find refuge.
Rail Fence.—The kind of fences used on a farm will
vary according to circumstances, the most available material being generally
employed in each section. As the country becomes older, and the material for
fencing purposes becomes more scarce and expensive, the question as to the most
economical and durable* fence to construct becomes a more important one to
determine. The first settlers of the country, finding timber and stone
abundant, made use of these principally in the construction of fences. Hence,
the rail-fence and stone-wall became the most common at that time. In
newly-settled portions, where timber is plenty, the common rail-fence, or what
is termed the zigzag or Virginia fence, is quite extensively employed, owing to
the material being cheap,—often an incumbrance in clearing up new lands,—and
the rails being easily split.
This style of fence has been very appropriately
termed by a recent writer, "the relic of a lavish era of unlimited
forestry," the counterpart of which is seen in no other country, it being
typical of Yankeeland. Cedar is most commonly used for making rails, although
hemlock, chestnut, and other kinds of timber may be employed for this purpose.
In making a rail-fence, wooden blocks are
preferred to stones for supports at the corners, as the stones will soon sink
into the ground and become of no use whatever.
Blocks will decay in time, but they may be replaced by others. The stakes used
should always be large enough to give sufficient strength and support to the
fence. It will be a practice of economy also to make them long enough to be
re-sharpened and used again when the ends decay. Long stakes projecting at the
corners, however, give a fence an unsightly appearance. A more symmetrical and
neater-looking fence, besides being equally strong, can be made by putting two
upright stakes, one on either side of the angle formed in crossing the rails,
and securing them by a plank in which holes are made of sufficient size and
distance apart to admit of being slipped over these posts to hold them securely
after all but one or two of the top rails have been laid. The upper rails are
then put on to hold the plank firmly in place. Annealed wire of large size
maybe wound around the stakes to hold them in place, instead of the use of the
plank, if desired. The objections to the common rail-fence are, the large
amount of timber necessary for its construction, the ease with which it may be
thrown down by stock, or blown over by the strong winds, and the amount of land
it occupies. Where timber is abundant, land plenty, and saw-mills not easily
accessible, some kind of a rail-fence may prove the most profitable; but, as a
general rule, with ordinary facilities for obtaining other material, and where
land is valuable, some other style of fence is to be preferred.
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