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Fig. 54.—Side View Of Bench.

Fig. 55.—Top View Of Bench.

Fig. 56.—Portion Of The Fence.

A very desirable and popular fence is made of pickets or slats woven into horizontal strands of plain wire. Several machines have been invented and patented for doing this work, but it can be done by hand with the aid of the bench illustrated herewith. The wire should be a little larger than that used on harvesting machines, and annealed like it. The bench, of which figure 54 is a side view, and figure 55 a top view, should be about sixteen feet long and have a screw at each corner for raising and lowering the holding bars. For the screws at the ends of the frame one-half to three-fourth-inch iron rod will answer. The wire is twisted close and tight to the slats, and given two or three twists between them. If the slats are of green stuff, fasten the wire to them with small staples, to prevent their slipping when they shrink. The fence is fastened to the post with common fence staples. When this style of fence is used on one side of a pasture or highway, its effectiveness may be increased by a single strand of barbed wire stapled to the posts above the pickets, and a strand of plain wire strung along the bottom to stiffen it. The fence will then be as in figure 56. Such a fence will last many years, and for most sections of the country is the best and cheapest combined cattle and hog fence that can be made. For a garden fence it is equal to the best picket, and at one third of the cost. By having the slats sawed about one-half inch thick, two inches wide, and five to six feet long, it makes an excellent fence for a chicken yard, as it can be readily taken down, moved, and put up again without injuring it in the least. For situations where appearances are secondary importance, round slats are equally as good as pickets. A farmer in Wisconsin planted a few white willow trees the year that he made some fences of this kind. When the fence began to need repairs, the willows had attained such a growth that their trimmings furnished all the material needed then and each year thereafter.