The Hudson, from the wilderness to the sea . en hundred inhabitants, in the midst of rugged mountainscenery, the hills abounding with iron ore. As we approached it we cameto a wide plain, over which lay—in greater perfection than any we had 54 THE HUDSON. yet seen—stump fences, which are peculiai to the Upper Hudson are composed of the stumps of large pine-trees, drawn from the soilby machines made for the purpose, and they are so disposed in rows, theirroots interlocking, as to form an effectual barrier to the j)assage of anyanimal on whose account fences arc made. The stumps are
The Hudson, from the wilderness to the sea . en hundred inhabitants, in the midst of rugged mountainscenery, the hills abounding with iron ore. As we approached it we cameto a wide plain, over which lay—in greater perfection than any we had 54 THE HUDSON. yet seen—stump fences, which are peculiai to the Upper Hudson are composed of the stumps of large pine-trees, drawn from the soilby machines made for the purpose, and they are so disposed in rows, theirroots interlocking, as to form an effectual barrier to the j)assage of anyanimal on whose account fences arc made. The stumps are full of sap(turpentine), and wc were assured, with all the confidence of experience,that these fences would last a thousand years, the turpcutine preservingthe woody fibre. One of the stump-machines stood in a field near theroad. It was a simple derrick, Avith a large wooden screw hanging fromthe apex, where its heavy matrix Avas fastened. In the lower end of thescrew was a large iron bolt, and at the upper end, or head, a strong lever. was fastened. The derrick is placed over a stump, and heavy chains arewound round and under the stump and over the iron bolt in the horse attached to the lever works the screw in such a manner as todraw the stump and its roots clean from the ground. The stump fencesformed quite a picturesque feature in the landscape, and at a distanceha-^-e the appearance of masses of deer horns. It was toward evening when we arrived at Warrensburg, but beforesunset we had strolled over the most interesting portions of the village,along the river and its immediate vicinity. Here, as elsewhere, the pre-vailing drought had diminished the streams, and the Scarron, usually a THE HUDSON. 55 wild, rushing river, from the village to its confluence Avith the Hudsonproper, was a comparatively gentle creek, with many of the rocks in itsbed quite bare, and timber lodged among them. The buildings of a largemanufactory of leather skirted one side
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookidhudsonfromwilder00lossi
