Stone Walls
The first thing I do when beginning a day of deer hunting is to search for an old stone wall surrounded by forest to take up my stand. Then, I take a few stones from the wall and place them in front of a tree, and now, I have a seat and a backrest.
While on deer stand, I have an opportunity to check out my surroundings. The stone wall seems to stretch endlessly through the woods, making it hard to imagine that the area had once been a cleared field.
My mind wanders back to the hard labor that went into building this stone wall. The cutting of trees and pulling out the stumps and roots would have been a giant task; however, this was only half of the work. The stones were gathered and piled on a stone boat, which was pulled by either horses or mules to the far end of a clearing. Next, the stones were unloaded and stacked. Since fencing materials were either scarce or non-existent, the farmers also used tree stumps, with the connected root systems, to build fences. Although gathering stones was hard work, they were free; therefore they were used in building houses and barn foundations.
An old saying goes, “Good fences make good neighbors.” However, I doubt that the early farmers gave any thought to this saying. Fences were built to keep the livestock out of the fields. Here, in Northern Pennsylvania, the rocky soil yielded an abundant supply of fencing materials. Every time the farmer plowed his field, he unearthed a new supply of stones that needed to be removed. Each spring the stone walls were piled higher and extended further.
Today, the condition of stone walls can tell you something about the men that built them. Many stone fences that were neatly stacked are still standing; however, if a stone wall appears to have caved in, perhaps the farmer took shortcuts and simply chose to throw the stones on a pile.
One does not have to travel far to see that stone walls were built of different types of stone. For example, in Southern Pennsylvania, the walls were made from limestone; however, here in Northern Pennsylvania, Devonian red shale is found in our walls, and if you travel to the New England area, you will find the stone walls contain a great amount of granite.
Scientists believe that different types of stone were formed when the earth was a mass of molten material. Within this molten mass, the heavier elements (iron, nickel, etc.) sank deep below the surface; while the lighter elements floated on top. As the liquid mass slowly cooled, the elements tended to draw together. Over most of the earth’s original crust, many crystals took the form of granite. Under this thin layer of granite were molten rocks. As the molten rocks cooled and contracted, great pressure forced the land up to form mountains, and in some places, huge cracks opened; molten rock flowed upward, spreading out over the layer of granite; smaller cracks were filled with this molten material to form veins of rocks, and then boiling water carried the elements in a solution from the inner earth and repositioned in the cracks. This is how some parts of the earth’s surface became rich with concentrations of rare minerals that came from the deep interior of the earth.
Later, the forces of nature (water, wind and ice glaciers) spread these minerals over the surface of the earth; however, the soil usually draws most of its mineral content from the underlying rock. When the rock is rich in important minerals (example, limestone) the soil usually provides a rich environment for life; while rocks (example, granite) offer little mineral food and provide little nourishment for plants.
The stone walls created by early farmers have provided a special habitat for small animals, such as chipmunks, mice, weasels, rabbits, reptiles (snakes, etc.), which attract larger animals, such as foxes, coyotes and a host of other predators. Years ago contractors were buying these stone walls from land owners. The stones were removed and placed on pallets to be shipped to other areas, where the stones were used in construction and landscaping. If I remember correctly, the landowner received $25 a pallet, while the contractor sold the pallets of stones for approximately $250, which did not include the shipping paid by the buyer.
Stump fences were built from the tree stumps pulled out of the ground by oxen or horses, with a device known as a stump puller. This was a very dangerous job. After the stump was pulled from the ground, it was dragged to the end of the clearing to be used as a fence. Today, these stumps are being sold and used in landscaping,
I believe that tearing down our stone walls is destroying a part of our heritage, along with city planners that are razing our old buildings to replace with parking lots and buildings that have neither eye appeal nor charm. However, many local groups have organized in an effort to save these old buildings as historical landmarks. I strongly feel that we should be doing the same with the stone walls and stump fences.