CLEARING FARM LAND 19 



acres in 1940 at a cost of $45 per acre with a large bulldozer at the rate of $9 per 

 hour. Two years later a small machine at $5 j:,er hour was used to remove boul- 

 ders of similar size and number on an adjoining 14-acre field, and the cost was 

 $164 per acre. The smaller machine could not push the largest boulders and 

 costs were $20 per acre for ^ ill ng and blasting these large boulders into smaller 

 pieces. 



Stone walls were removed on this farm in these two years by the same machines 

 with a similar cost relationship. A trench was dug with the larger machine, the 

 stone wall pushed in, and topsoil graded over the stones at a total cost of 85 

 cents per linear yard. A wall in the adjoining field was buried by the smaller 

 machine by the same methods at a cost of $1.20 per linear yard. The differences 

 in cost per acre between large and small bulldozers were not as great for stump 

 removal and clearing of woodland as for removing boulders and stone walls, 

 but generally the larger machine with an experienced operator did the job at a 

 lower cost. 



Costs have also varied because of differences in kinds of equipment and methods 

 of land improvement, especially in stone wall removal. In two cases where a 

 stone wall was loaded on trucks with a power shovel and a bulldozer used to 

 push stones and fill the trench, the costs were $1.75 per linear yard to remove the 

 wall. Where walls of similar size were buried by the bulldozer in a trench dug 

 by the power shovel, the costs were about $1 per yard. When the bulldozer was 

 used to scoop a shallow trench in pasture or orchard and bury stone walls, the 

 costs ranged from 65 cents to $1 per linear yard for walls of comparable size. 

 It is questionable whether the latter method should be used to remove walls 

 from cropland since the stones are covered with less than two feet of soil. 



In the case of stump removal, the cost for machinery was about $115 per acre 

 where a power shovel was used with either trucks to haul stumps or bulldozers to 

 push them into piles. Where the stumps were pushed out and piled or buried 

 by the bulldozer, the costs were about $80 per acre for similar stumps in the same 

 type of soil. The bulldozer cost ranged from $40 to $100 per acre for removal 

 of pine and hardwood stumps on sandy to stony loam soils. 



The variation in costs of machinery because of differences in amount of work 

 done in clearing was more difficult to measure. In the case of boulder removal 

 for crop production, the costs for the bulldozer and for picking stones was $142 

 per acre on seven farms where 36 acres were cleared. The time required for the 

 bulldozer was 25 hours per acre at $5 per hour. This land was fornierly rough 

 stony pasture and was cleared for hay, corn silage, and truck crops. On similar 

 land where boulders were removed to improve the pasture, total costs for bull- 

 dozer and picking stones were $74 per acre on six farms for 38 acres of rough land. 

 The time required was eight hours per acre at about $8 per hour. Scattered 

 large boulders were removed from hayland and cultivated crop land for $28 per 

 acre on five farnis for 62 acres. Time required was only four hours per acre at 

 about $6 per hour. Boulder removal was more thorough when crops were to be 

 grown than when pasture was seeded. Stones were removed so that machinery 

 could be used for plowing, planting, cultivating and harvesting. In the case of 

 pasture the land was harrowed instead of being plowed and some of the largest 

 boulders were not removed. 



The same cost relationship was observed when stump or woodland was cleared 

 for crops or for pasture. Stump land was cleared for pasture at about $65 per 

 acre for machinery and hand labor for picking roots, but on similar land when 

 cleared for cultivated crops the costs were about $80 because of more thorough 

 removal of small stumps, roots, and sticks in order to plow and cultivate the 

 land. When used for pasture the cleared land was usualh- harrowed, fertilized 

 and seeded without being plowed. 



