CLEARING FARM LAND 11 



in windrows to be burned. Topsoil was deep enough here so that the field was 

 graded and the stumps were covered in low areas to make a 2C'-acre level pasture 

 over former swampy woodland. Total costs including picking roots, harrowing, 

 fertilizer treatment, and seeding were less than $100 per acre for a Ladino clover 

 and grass pasture with high grazing capacity. 



Records on 13 farms where 75 acres of stumpland were cleared with a bulldozer 

 showed costs ranging from $30 to $125 per acre tor the bulldozer. About 12 

 hours were required per acre to push out hardwood stumps and grade the land. 

 Pine stumps were removed on sandy soils in 6 to 10 hours per acre at a cost of 

 $30 to $50 per acre for the bulldozer, while costs for hardwood stumps on a stony 

 heavy soil were nearer $100 per acre. The use of a power shovel to lift stumps 

 and of trucks to haul them in addition to the grading work with the bulldozer 

 increased total machinery costs to about $125 per acre for pine and hardwood 

 stumps up to 30 inches in diameter. One advantage of using a shovel or clam 

 shell bucket was that soil was shaken from the roots as the stumps were pulled. 

 The grubber blade type of bulldozer was equally effective when stumps were 

 pushed into swamps. 



Pine stumps were cleared on sandy soil for seeded poultry range at costs ranging 

 up to $100 per acre where considerable grading and brush removal was required. 

 In another instance, pine stumps to two feet in diameter on heavy loam soil 

 were pushed out by the bulldozer in 6.5 hours for $33 per acre. Stumps were 

 hauled away in a stoneboat by the owner, the land was plowed and harrowed, roots 

 were picked up, and a hayland mixture was seeded after fertilizer treatment. 

 Total cash costs of clearing and seeding were less than $50 per acre. 



Hurricane stumps and broken stubs were pulled with a farmer-owned crawler 

 tractor and chain on ten acres of clay loam soil for $12 per acre. Total costs were 

 about $25 per acre for piling stumps in a windrov^, picking stones and roots, and 

 harrowing with a bog harrow. The land surface was uneven where stumps had 

 been pulled and on this wet soil the grass seeding had died out where water was 

 standing. Total costs were about $50 per acre for a seeded fertilized pasture. 

 On farms where labor and equipment are available, stumps on small acreages 

 can generally be removed at less cost by the farm crew than by hiring a bulldozer 

 or power shovel, but grading will not be so effective and more time is required. 



Removing Stone Walls 



Where stone wall removal has been undertaken, the purpose has usually been 

 to combine several small fields into one large field for more efficient use of machin- 

 ery. Three methods have been used by farmers in Massachusetts depending 

 upon the crops to be grown, size of wall, equipment available, and soil conditions: 

 (1) use of bulldozer alone, (2) combination of bulldozer and gas shovel, and 

 (3) use of bulldozer, gas shovel, and dump trucks. 



Costs usually were lowest where a bulldozer was used to make an "allweather 

 road" from stonewalls. A shallow trench about 8 feet wide and 3 feet deep was 

 scooped out along the wall and the stone wall was pushed into the trench. Stones 

 were spread in a la^er about one foot deep and covered with soil to make a drained 

 roadway about one foot above the level of the surrounding land. This method 

 of removing stone walls has been used in orchards to make roads to other blocks 

 of trees and also to provide longer rows for spraying or dusting with larger ma- 

 chinery. Stone walls were buried in shatlow trenches in pasture and hayland in 

 many instances and the strip was seeded. On one farm the walls were pushed 

 into a trench in a swampy spot to furnish drainage for seeded pasture. Costs of 

 removing stone walls by the bulldozer working alone ranged from 75 cents to 



