Chestnut Paling

I put in a section of this chestnut paling fence today. The old one was shorter and had only two rows of wire. That's in the kindling pile now.

This is my first experience with this traditional type of fence, which is not seen in the US as far as I recall. I like it because it's easy to install, it looks good, and it lasts for many years.

I didn't know until now that American chestnut trees were almost completely wiped out between 1900 and 1940 because of an Asiatic chestnut blight. I've worked in various woodworking shops where everyone treated chestnut wood as though it were gold, but I never knew why. The blight killed billions of the trees all over North America.

To properly mark the occasion I scattered a handful of barley in front of it so that the chickens would be on the scene, and I took this picture.

This was the most photogenic event of my day at Chez Ceridwen.