Growing Stones
In stony country almost every field has its stone-heap. It may be bramble-covered, lost in weed or thistle, but it is there, a home for the stoat or a snake, and generations of farm-workers have helped to make it the size it is. Among some old country folk there is a firm belief that stones grow in a field. An old man once told me that he had noticed more on the ploughing after rain. They came, he said, like any other thing the devil sent to choke a useful crop. In days gone by, when labour was not so scarce and a farmer was sometimes at a loss to know how to occupy a man's time, a horse •and cart were often taken out to carry a load of stones lifted- from the field. If thistles were cut and fences were intact, the stones were always there for the gathering. Year after year the crop seemed as good as ever. and the man who lifted them became convinced that they grew out of the earth like weeds. It is easy to understand how the belief came about when one thinks of the plough disturbing the soil, and frost and flood causing the smaller boulders to work to the surface. A hundred years of cultivation does not exhaust the supply, and in a way it is true to say they grow. -
Previous page
