332

ON INCLOSING LAND

passes below the catch, the part behind the centre A beingmade sufficiently heavy to raise the other end, in shutting thegate. The advantage of this mode is, that when the gatesinks, which the best do a little, the sneck will continue to gowith ease. You will observe, that although the gate is Se-lect long, the road-way is only 7 feet 9 inches. The gateshould be stopped at a point about a foot beyond its perpen-dicular line when shut. Opinions vary as to the advantageof gates shutting themselves. If this should be required, it iseasily done by altering the position of the hinges, so as toproduce the effect in any degree, I got a top hinge made atEdgerston, to act in the same way as common fly ones doat bottom, and used the same centre point at bottom.In this way, the gate could not be disentangled as thoseacting at bottom, and the centre upon which the weight ofthe whole stood, was more secure than the crook at top,upon which that weight must hang. The dotted lines showthe parts of circles described by the centre points : The blackdot the position of the centre below, which is placed a littlenearer the pillar than the upper ones, that the gate may notstop and open till it reach the dotted line.

“ Great care ought to be taken to guard gates and pillarsby large stones, and to make the roads in passing them smooth.Low pillars are likewise a great advantage, being out of thereach of the shelvings of high-loaded carts. In place of singlerails, which are frequently used in shutting up entrancesseldom opened, 1 have hung these by a short chain uponhooks driven into a post, (see a,a,a,) connected there with achain at the other end, b,b, to answer the distances of checkscut in another post, so that, by carrying them all round bythe top one, and putting it into the upmost check, all the restgo into their respective ones flush with the post. They arethen completely secured by a piece of wood, about three inchesbroad, one inch thick, and so long as to cover all .the checkwhich is hung to the top of the post by a small chain, c, andslipt behind two hooks, d,d, in the lowest of which is a catchsimilar to that given by Mr Parker in his plate marked II.