Jeff R
Elite Member
Of all the evidence of New England's agricultural past, none is so common or dramatic as the thousands of miles of stone walls that crisscross the region. Stonewalls always mean once-cleared land.
Interesting factoid
Historians tell us that the walls were built not as a bit of Yankee ingenuity to find a use for the ever-present rocks in the fields, but because there was no effective wood preservative available then. Wooden fences therefore had to be regularly replaced.
The dangerous and back-breaking task of building these walls was usually left to itinerant laborers who worked for little more than their food and board. Seventeen feet of wall was considered a good day's work for two men and a team of oxen. When you consider the mile upon mile of stone walls in one town alone, you can get some idea of the tremendous amount of hand labor that the New England stone walls represent.
The moral of the story?
I've always had good luck MD near a stone wall. Not nessesarily $$$$ but buttons, buckles and ox shoes.
HH Jeff
Interesting factoid
Historians tell us that the walls were built not as a bit of Yankee ingenuity to find a use for the ever-present rocks in the fields, but because there was no effective wood preservative available then. Wooden fences therefore had to be regularly replaced.
The dangerous and back-breaking task of building these walls was usually left to itinerant laborers who worked for little more than their food and board. Seventeen feet of wall was considered a good day's work for two men and a team of oxen. When you consider the mile upon mile of stone walls in one town alone, you can get some idea of the tremendous amount of hand labor that the New England stone walls represent.
The moral of the story?
I've always had good luck MD near a stone wall. Not nessesarily $$$$ but buttons, buckles and ox shoes.
HH Jeff
