THE STONE-CROP. 259 



the force required to pull the tree out of its place, the more 

 firmly the grip of the iron upon the roots. Over the whole 

 farm, along the walls, and in heaps in the fields, cart-loads of 

 stones had been dumped. I took off nearly a hundred cords 

 of them. Among them was a rank growth of trees, with 

 alders and brush, that at first seemed to mock all attempts 

 lo remove them. 



The loose stones had first to be gathered, and many others, 

 such as cropped above the surface, and could be dug out, 

 besides hundreds that had to be blasted in order to remove 

 them. The surface of the farm was so uneven, that numer- 

 ous mounds had to be reduced, and low places filled up. 



I had found that rocky land was generally strong, fertile, 

 durable, crop-bearing soil ; and though it has to be conquered 

 before it will yield, so does any thing else that is worth hav- 

 ing. Were I to select a new farm to-day, a rocky one would 

 be my choice ; not that there is a great gain in the sale of 

 the stone, because it cannot always be sold, but for the rea- 

 sons I have mentioned. Land with round, white stones, 

 should be avoided. 



It may be interesting to know how much business I have 

 done in stone harvesting. The time and labor devoted to it 

 was all taken out of the legitimate farm-work, hence must 

 be called the cost of the stone-crop. You will see that it 

 has cost a large per cent of its income. 



I have sold 1,560 cords of stones of all sizes, and for all 

 building and road purposes, besides some three hundred and 

 fifty cords that have been used in under-drains, walls, and 

 buildings on the farm. I have received an average of a 

 little over five dollars per cord, or an aggregate of about 

 eight thousand dollars. It has cost me to dig around, blast, 

 and take out with bars, stones in the field, a thousand days, 

 or twelve hundred and fifty dollars ; to haul out and pile 

 up, with team, seven hundred days, or three thousand dol- 

 lars ; to deliver the stone sold from the farm, it has cost 

 me, in labor of men and teams, five thousand dollars. 



The work of getting out stone is fraught with many aggra- 

 vating, perplexing, costly, and even dangerous circumstances. 

 The breakage of chains, wearing out of drags (of which I 

 have used fifteen), wear and tear upon wagons, all imple- 

 ments and draught animals used, cost of powder, fuse, and 



