Editing Barbed wire (section)

{{Short description|Type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points}}
{{Redirect|Barb wire}}
{{Use mdy dates |date=May 2020 }}
[[File:Rusted barbed wire.jpg|thumb|Close-up of a barbed wire]]
[[file:Barbed Wire Roll.jpg|thumb|Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire]]

'''Barbed wire''', also known as '''barb wire''' or '''bob wire''' (in the [[Southern United States|Southern]] and [[Southwestern United States]]), is a type of [[steel]] fencing [[wire]] constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is the construction of inexpensive [[fence]]s, and it is also used as a security measure atop [[wall]]s surrounding property. As a [[wire obstacle]], it is a major feature of the fortifications in [[trench warfare]].

A person or animal trying to pass through or over barbed wire will suffer discomfort and possibly injury. Barbed wire fencing requires only fence posts, wire, and fixing devices such as [[staple (fastener)|staple]]s. It is simple to construct and quick to erect, even by an unskilled person.

The first patent in the United States for barbed wire<ref>{{US patent|RE7136E|first patent in the United States for barbed wire}}</ref> was issued in 1867 to Lucien B. Smith of [[Kent, Ohio]], who is regarded as the inventor.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/timeline_text.html | title= The American Experience Technology Timeline: 1752 - 1990 | access-date=2009-01-28 | work=The American Experience | publisher= Public Broadcasting Systems | year= 2000 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090207005119/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/telephone/timeline/timeline_text.html | archive-date= 7 February 2009  | url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2672 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071003100907/http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2672 | archive-date= 2007-10-03 | title= Lucien B. Smith|access-date=2009-01-28 | work= Ohio History Central | publisher= Ohio Historical Society | date= 31 July 2006 }}</ref> [[Joseph Glidden|Joseph F. Glidden]] of [[DeKalb, Illinois]], received a patent for the modern invention<ref>{{US patent|157124A|patent for the modern invention}}</ref> in 1874 after he made his own modifications to previous versions.

Wire fences are cheaper and easier to erect than their alternatives (one such alternative is [[Osage orange]], a thorny bush that is time-consuming to transplant and grow).<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlisle|first=Rodney|date=2004|title=Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries|page=[https://archive.org/details/scientificameric0000carl/page/241 241]|publisher=John Wiley & Songs, Inc.|location=New Jersey|isbn=978-0-471-24410-3|url=https://archive.org/details/scientificameric0000carl/page/241}}</ref> When wire fences became widely available in the United States in the late 19th century, it became more affordable to fence much larger areas than before, and intensive [[animal husbandry]] was made practical on a much larger scale.

An example of the costs of fencing with lumber immediately prior to the invention of barbed wire can be found with the first farmers in the [[Fresno]], California, area, who spent nearly $4,000 ({{inflation|US|4000|1872|fmt=eq|cursign=$|r=-3}}) to have wood for fencing delivered and erected to protect {{convert|2,500|acre|ha}} of wheat crop from [[open range|free-ranging]] livestock in 1872.<ref>{{cite book |last=Winchell |first=Lilbourne |title=History of Fresno County and the San Joaquin Valley |page=107}}</ref>