The book of the farm : detailing the labors of the farmer, steward, plowman, hedger, cattle-man, shepherd, field-worker, and dairymaid

Wire Fences in Colonial Australia: Technology Transfer and Adaptation, 1842–1900

“…While keeping in mind Raby's (1996, p. 64) warning that ‘agricultural writers, popularisers and propagandists tended to be well ahead of general farming practice in Britain’, we can follow the adoption of wire fences through five successive editions of Henry Stephen's influential Book of the Farm . There is no mention in the first edition (1844), but the second (1855) and third (1877) plagiarise the information in Young (1850). The fourth (1891) and fifth (1908) editions add more material and illustrations, but the basic text is similar.…”

“…There is no mention in the first edition (1844), but the second (1855) and third (1877) plagiarise the information in Young (1850). The fourth (1891) and fifth (1908) editions add more material and illustrations, but the basic text is similar. The real change in the later editions is the addition of more fence designs, but these are taken from manufacturers’ catalogues.…”

“…It is difficult to see how the millions of kilometres of farm and station property boundaries in Australia could be secured to prevent wandering stock without wire. Although Stephens (1855: p. 596) had misgivings about the future of wire fences, within four decades he accepted their value: ‘Wire is now more largely employed than any other material in fencing land’ (Stephens, 1891: volume 3, p. 235). Wire fences, using either plain wire or barbed wire or some combination of these, quickly became the de facto standard in the western world.…”