Fig. 174.—Post With Iron Ground Piece.
Fig. 175.—Cast-iron Ground-piece.
[Figure 175] shows a cast iron ground piece, and at the right is the lower end of a post resting in one of them. The three flanges are cast in one solid piece, with a hole through the centre of any desired form and size. The wings or flanges are three inch plates, running to sharp edges on the bottom, so that they can easily be driven into the ground. They may be of any desired size, larger sizes being required for a light yielding soil than for a stiff one. [Figure 176] is an iron post on a wooden base, for situations where the ground is soft and wet. The base is preferably of cedar, three to four feet long, four inches thick, and four to six inches wide. It is to be sunken in the ground crosswise with the line of fence. The post is of iron, set and stapled into the end-piece, as shown in the engraving. Before being put in place, the whole is saturated with hot coal tar, as a preservative. There is less call for iron posts than was anticipated when wire fences first came into general use. It is found that wooden posts can be delivered in any location reached by railway at less cost than iron posts.
Fig. 176.
CHAPTER XI.
GATES AND FASTENINGS.
WOODEN GATES.
