Stone walls were built because of deforestation caused by clearcutting land to make sheep pastures, made wood for fences unavailable.
Hmm I had always thought that the deforestation was caused by demand for wood for heating and cooking.
Something about this sounds incomplete. A farmer isn't going to waste his time making a wall, especially the dodgy disorganized walls that are common in the region. A farmer doesn't need a shallow wall, stone or wood. The walls you come across in new england in the forest look exactly like people expect, a place on the edge of your farm to dump rocks. Now, maybe not frost grown, but New England has lots of rocks everywhere.
Hmm I had always thought that the deforestation was caused by demand for wood for heating and cooking.
Something about this sounds incomplete. A farmer isn't going to waste his time making a wall, especially the dodgy disorganized walls that are common in the region. A farmer doesn't need a shallow wall, stone or wood. The walls you come across in new england in the forest look exactly like people expect, a place on the edge of your farm to dump rocks. Now, maybe not frost grown, but New England has lots of rocks everywhere.