A LITTLE LAND 288 



AND A LIVING 



can be transplanted or sold. For the rest, black 

 locust sticks can be sold for insulator pins ; cedar 

 sticks for hop and bean poles, " curly " or " bird's- 

 eye" maple or birch are in great demand for 

 furniture. Stumps may be burned or dynamited 

 out. Dynamiting is the quicker method, but it 

 needs an expert and is expensive. 



The cheapest and simplest way of getting rid 

 of large rocks is blasting by fire. A fire is built 

 on the top of a rock and kept burning until the 

 boulder has been thoroughly heated. When it 

 cools it will break easily. If the rock is below 

 the surface, a trench must be dug around it, the 

 rock slightly raised by levers, and a fire built 

 in the trench so that the heat may get under the 

 rock. Some people who have burned rock out, 

 advocate pouring water upon them while hot, to 

 cool them quickly, while others again have found 

 that the natural process of expansion and con- 

 traction is all that is necessary. 



This method, which has been endorsed by 

 miners, farmers, and others, will recall the an- 

 cient story that w r hen Hannibal crossed the Alps 

 he removed the rocks by heating them and pour- 



