HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1978-09-20, Page 3Rememberingwith W.G. Strong
ences then and now
"I like to see an old rail fence,That zigs
and zags at will Across a field without
pretense And over yonder hill."
There is poetry;to be found in the pattern
of fences woven' across. Ontario. They
served a useful and necessary purpose and
remain historic relics of the past, add to the
story of Canada's farming tradition and
testify to the ingenuity of the men and
women who first settled this great land. '
Memories of the spraddle-legged , or
zig-zagged rail fences marching across the
landscape are recalled when driving
through back-country, especially in the
Ottawa Valley with which the writer has
grown familiar. Their memories are as
inseparable from the( landscape asIthe
woodlots and bushes from which the
fencing materials were rough hewn.
Houses and barns and sheds fashioned
from the same forests stand in ruined
shapes but the countless miles of rail
fences were the most extensive use to
which the slender tree-trunks were put.
Fences first built 'by the Indian tribes'
seem to have been restricted to weirs built
across narrow stream's to direct the fishy
hordes toward traps or to hunting-fences to
corral big game, rom which they could not
escape. Here and there were left gaps
where snares were concealed to catch any
fugitive attempting to break through.
Fences built by the first white settlers
date from the4 original clearing operations.
They served to mark boundaries, to keep
animals, wild or domestice, in or out of
certain restricted areas, to protect crops,
for privacy, for seclusion and as a way of
disposing of slash resulting from land
clearance.
In Stages
Settlers cleared the virgin forest in
various stages. At first the underbrush was
removed and the slash burned off but some
was piled up to make a primitive brush
fence. These windrows of deadwood
formed an impenetrable obstacle where
branches were woven into each other or
found lying on the ground might be used to
form the base of the fence which often had •
to be diverted so that advantage might be
taken of natural obstacles.
There were obvious disadvantages in the
brush fence. It was a serious fire hazard; it
seldom followed a boundary accurately; it
could be moved only with difficulty.
Although there was no financial outlay
involved, it cost considerable more in time
and labour than certain other types. It did,
however, occupy a large amount of arable
land that might have been cultivated to
good advantage. It has been stated that a
brush fence should be at least forty feet
wide and damn high.
In the second stage of forest clearing;
the trees were felled and drawn into
windrows by oxen where they were burned
off later for wood-ash, Good, straight logs
were spared and used for farm buildings
and those of up to ten inches in diameter
were restricted to the making of split rails
for fence construction. This land-clearing •
by the family represented a vast struggle to
overcome the wilderneSs and, at times, an
impossible task but day afte'r day they
continued and persevered. The stillness of
the winter forestwould often be' broken by
the 'thwacking' sound of the pioneer's
broad axe.
Stump Clearing
The usual successor to the brush fence
was one of stuaps. This resulted as the
second stage of land-clearing, perhaps ten
or fifteen years later when the roots of the
tree stumps were sufficiently rotted to
make it possible to pull them out. The
tamer dug around the stump unil he found
a big root that ran out sideways. He would
hitch the stout logging chain to this root,
lead the chain across the top of the stump(
and attach it to the yoke borne by his team
of oxen.
Amid shouts and some mild
cursing, a whip was crashed in mid-air and
the beasts strained as they leaned into
their task. The stump almost invariably
would turn over as it came loose: It was
then •dragged to the border of the field to
be positioned, the rosette of interlacing
roots facing the outside of the property.
Any gaps remaining were filled in with
brush. The resulting fence might well have
been a combination of these two materials.
At a later date mechanical stump pullers
were invented by which a screw system
powered by horses drew the rotted stump
from the ground with a minimum of
manual effort. Oxen, however, continued
to be used to draw the stumpe to its
destination to form an inpenetrable barrier
against cattle which had a tendency to
wander as far as the grass would lead them
without regard to distance or direction.
'Without these primitive structures the
control of livestock would be virtually
impossible and the resultant loss
devastating. Few stump fences remain
today. Gread gramp loved to say that they
were pig tight, bull strong and horse high.
Indeed their twisted, tangled roots
pointing skyward formed beautiful
patterns along the edge of many a
ploughed field. Depending upon the type
of stump it might be up to twenty years
before the settler could clear away the
stumps and rubble.
Rail fences were the most common in
Ontario as they zig-zagged like a wriggling
snake. Indeed it was sometimes called a
snake or worme fence. At times it has been
called the Virginia Rail fence. These were
by far the most usual type in Canada and
were found wherever there were the
materials for their construction. Many
hUndredg of miles of them still exist in
Eastern Ontario.
To make a good fence rail, one chose a
tall, straight tree. Often one could get two
or three twelve foot lengths from one tree
and almost free from knots. When straight
grained, one started at the narrow end of
the log and, with axe and wedge of wood or
iron, the two sections ultimately fell apart.
Each half was similarly split down the
middle. A mile of snake fence six rails
high, with rails eleven feet or so in length,
overlapping at foot at each angle required
some 4000 rails which represented much
felling, trimming, splitting, hauling and
erecting.
Bottom rail
In due time, the farmer learned that the
bottom rail resting on the ground began to
rot and the fence to disintegrate. Great
grandpapa learned to lay a foundation of
two flat stones one on top of the other to
form what he called the hub or bay. If he
used just one stone,the moisture seemed to
creep up the stone and rot the wood but
with two stones the moisture was held in
check. He would lay two such hubs some
twenty feet apart then a third one in. the
middle outside the direct line between
numbers one and two to make anlangle and
add a fourth beyond the second hud at the
same angle.
He would lay a rail from one to three and
another from two to four. Then he would
put• a third rail from two back hubs arid
adding rails until he got the length he
needed with the rails overlapping at the
bays. Occasionally the top rail might be .
blown off in a windstorm or knocked off by
bossy as she scratched her neck thereon.
Some effort was made to prevent this by
placing a heavy rail on top and lashing a
couple of field stones together with wire and
hanging the same at the hub.
Snake fences had many advantages at a
time when timber was plentiful. The •
winding pattern 'allowed it to avoid
natural obstacles and could be easily
moved since no posts were required. The
major disadvantage was the amount of land
occupied. It has been estimated that a mile
of fence took up more than an acre of
cleared land and prevented the use of
nearly as much. Rumour had it that a
farmer from Holland could make a living by
just using our fence-corners.
[To be. continued]
a
THE BRUSSELS POST, SEPTEMBER 20r. 1978 •---
35 new kids
Start kindergarten- .at BPS
• Brussels Public School has 35 new
students this year, including 22 in kinder-
garten and 13 new pupils i ,Grades 1-6.
The new pupils Are: Jennifer Laienby of
Aurora, Grade 6: Robert Lazenby Of Aurora,
Grade 1: Nancy Lazenby of Aurora, Grade 1
William Rapson frOm Hullett Central School,
Grade 6; Paul Rich, from East Wawanosh,
Grade 1: Lyle Hood from Grey Central
School, Grade 6; Pam Player, Dan Player ;
Sharlene Clark' all in the Power Learning
class and all from the Grey Central; Susan
Bridge of East Wawanosh, Grade 5; Steven
Fridge of East Wawanosh, Grade 6; Janice
Vernon of Toronto, Grade 5; and Tracy
Bradshaw of England, Grade 6.
New kindergarten students ' are Kevin
Alcock, Christopher Bridge, Janis Cardiff;
Christina Dillow, Shelley Duskocy, Dawn
Engdl, Michelle Preernan, Donna Gordon,
Shawn Jacklin, Margaret. Jarvis, Darren
Johnston, David Johnston, Patricia knight,
Amy kufSke, Tracy Leishman, Brian
McArter, Tara Playford, Todd Rice, Made-
line Ryan, David Smith, Dawn Ten Pas, and
Garry Yuill.
) 81$ t 16,1 1.19,!,41JWA),./,1 .1:"•Y91 iJC 1.,.,V.!