The county commissioners of any county are hereby empowered, where lands are used largely as pasture lands and wherever in their judgment the convenience of the traveling public will not be materially affected thereby, to authorize and permit the construction and maintenance of fences across public highways under their jurisdiction. Wherever such fences are permitted the board of county commissioners shall require and it shall be the duty of the person constructing or maintaining such fences to construct and maintain therein sufficient gates to accommodate travel, which gates shall be either swinging on hinges or gates that may be opened by the driver of a vehicle without alighting therefrom, or the ordinary wire gate, as the county commissioners may require. The board may also require the owner or other person constructing or maintaining such fence to construct upon such road an auto gate sufficient to enable automobiles to pass over or through such fence upon such road without stopping, and sufficient also to prevent stock passing through said fence.

All orders allowing the construction of such fences and requiring the gates herein provided shall be entered upon the journal of the board of county commissioners. The said board may, in its discretion, order and direct that any gates shall remain open during certain portions of the year, the time to be fixed by said board, or in its discretion and where there is a reasonable necessity therefor and the convenience of the traveling public would not be materially affected thereby, it may order such gate or gates to be kept closed during the entire year.