I3O FARM DEVELOPMENT 



are useful for the foundation of roads and walks. Ditches 

 along the roadside, farm ditches through land which 

 readily washes, may be paved cheaply with field stones; 

 and rather than leave the stones in unsightly piles along 

 the roadside or throughout the field, it sometimes pays 

 to pile them up into' fences. The cost of wire fences is 

 now so low, however, that the labor of piling up stone 

 fences and of repairing them will not, as a rule, pay 

 in the end. 



Removing trees, shrubs and roots from peaty land. 

 Many swamps are covered with trees. Sometimes a 



thick growth, as of 

 tamarack or spruce, is 

 formed, which is valuable 

 for posts, fuel or other 



purposes. Other swamps have scattering trees of small 

 size, and in other cases no trees are to be seen, but under- 

 neath the upper layers of peat are encountered stumps, 

 roots and logs which greatly impede the work of making 

 drains and of cultivation. Where fire can be safely used 

 to consume the upper 

 3 to 6 inches of peat, 

 the stumps and roots 

 of standing or decayed Figure 5l Hoob A Hnd of large hoe used 



trees thus Uncovered ^Weste b <^f rg t upturn n the coarse 



may then 'be easily re- 

 moved. The roots of trees growing in peat do not pene- 

 trate deeply, but spread out almost horizontally. By 

 burning off the covering of moss and peat, the roots and 

 stumps are also burned, or are so exposed that they 

 may be freely lifted out of the peat and removed. Any 

 stumps, roots or stems of trees of a former time which 

 have been covered by the upbuilding of the peat and 

 which impede the plow may usually be drawn out by 

 hand or team. In case burning is not practicable, as 

 where the surface peat cannot be gotten sufficiently dry, 



