STUMPS. 
147 
or thirty cents a stump, when, according to the old method, 
working by hand, it would cost, perhaps, two or three dollars to 
uproot a large one thoroughly. In the course of a day, these 
machines will tear up from twenty to fifty stumps, according to 
their size. Those of the pine, hemlock, and chestnut are the 
most difficult to manage, and these last longer than those of other 
trees. When uprooted, the stumps are drawn together in heaps 
and burnt, or frequently they are turned to account as fences, 
being placed on end, side by side, their roots interlocking, and a 
more wild and formidable barrier about a quiet field cannot well 
be imagined. These nide fences are quite common in our neigh- 
borhood, and being peculiar, one rather likes them; it is said 
that they last much longer than other wooden fences, remaining 
in good condition for sixty years. 
But although the stumps remaining here and there may appear 
to a stranger the only sign of a new country to be found here, 
yet closer observation will show others of the same character. 
Those wild pastures upon hill-sides, where the soil has never been 
ploughed, look very differently from other fallows. Here you 
observe a little hillock rounding over a decayed stump, there a 
petty hollow where some large tree has been uprooted by the 
storm ; fern and brake also are seen in patches, instead of the 
thistle and the mullein. Such open hill-sides, even when rich 
and grassy, and entirely free from M'ood or bushes, bear a kind 
of heaving, billowy character, which, in certain lights, becomes 
very distinct ; these ridges are fonned by the roots of old trees, 
and remain long after the wood has entirely decayed. Even on 
level ground there is always an elevation about the root of an 
old tree and upon a hill-side, these petty knolls show more clear- 
