FENCE IN, FENCE OUT

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Bill's neighbor isn't the only one to be worried about the economics of fencing. This is being written in the fall of 1974, and in our area of the Shenandoah Valley-current prices for wire are running about 100 percent higher than they did in 1970 (if you can get any the supply is short). Although my figures will probably be out of date by the time you read this, they'll give you a rough idea of what to expect.

Standard 1047-6-11 woven wire costs $79.50 for a 20-rod roll (330 feet), while the shorter 939-6-11 is $69.75.. The cheapest fencing of this type is lightweight 939-12-12 1/2 at $40.25 plus tax. When it comes to mail order versus home town dealers, Sears' 10476-12 1/2 at $49.95 plus shipping charges-compares to similar wire at $46.25 locally. In my case it turns out to be considerably cheaper to buy "next door": A. 20-rod roll of wire weighs 186 pounds and that adds up to a lot of freight charges by mail order.

(Inflation is an editorial nightmare. I can only tell you that, as of April 1975, local prices for woven wire are roughly $15.00 higher per roll than those given above. High-quality treated posts, guaranteed for 40 years, run a dollar or so higher apiece than the figures in the following section of this article. Prices for gates are about the same as those Jim quotes, and the cost of barbed wire is also comparable. It's essential to check with local dealers if you're planning to put up a fence and you'd better take along some smelling salts if you faint easily.-MOTHER.)

COMMERCIAL POSTS

Whatever folks pay for their wire, they'll most likely string it to soft pine posts which have been treated with salt and pentachlorophenol forced into the debarked wood under pressure. This process gives up to 30 years of protection against the homesteader's major fencing problems: rot and termites.

The treatment works only when it's done right, of course, and in our area-where demand for fence supports is heavy smog processors skimp on the job. I own posts in which the chemical is barely skin deep. This trick isn't easy to spot, because timbers are pressure-treated in precut lengths and the penta solution penetrates the end grain to some depth. Thus the larceny of the makers shows up only when several inches of wood are trimmed away. It wouldn't hurt to check by cutting four inches off one post in any lot you buy.

Post prices are subject to demand, and are high around here at present because local farmers have been too busy to cut log, for fence building and the supply is short. Some dealers will dicker on quantities, however, and I know one local man who knocks off a nickel a post on strapped bundles of 45.

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