One of the stories I grew up with was that farm walls were built by the farmers using stones from the field. These stones were uncovered by plowing, and seemed to rise to the top of the soil due to repeated freezing and thawing. One problem with this story is that the rocks in a field would have very variable sizes and shapes, and many would be rounded due to the action of the glaciers and erosion. It would be difficult to build a wall with only odd-shaped stones. Many of the walls were built with quarried stone.
Somewhere by the Pocasset River, stands an outcrop that has been quarried. The foliated granite in this area breaks easily into squarish pieces and slabs.
Rocks of varying sizes are sorted into piles around its base.
Squarish pieces seem to tumble down the slope.
Near the base of the quarry, a chunk of quartz twinkles through the fall leaves.
These rounded rocks were removed from the banks of the Pocasset and piled separately.
The squarish rocks were used to build this wall standing 50 feet away. The walls are compactly built, and still standing.
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