How Napoleon Changed my New England Backyard! 

My understanding is most stone "walls" in New England were the result of clearing stones from fields so they could be cultivated, and the stones were piled along the edges of the fields.

Thanks! When I visit thrift stores, I'm always looking for Merino wool sweaters. One additional fact. Creating pasture for all those sheep meant cutting down many of New England's forests. Fewer forests meant less wood for fencing, hence those stone fences, which have the additional advantage that they don't rot.

Wow, as a lifelong New Englander , I learned something new today about our land.

There might still be on the books a law making it illegal to remove a stone wall, in some parts of New England.

Have you considered doing more of these as your main video type? Looking into history about previous gardening techniques and whatnot? I think it has potential.

Super-duper history lesson! As a fan of Merino wool socks I really appreciate knowing how they came to the United States. Great job relating the tale.

The DuPont family moved to Bayonne Nj to get away from the French Revolution. They had Merino sheep with them . Later they moved to Delaware . For details contact the DuPont Hagley library in Delaware . “Located on 235 acres along the banks of the Brandywine in Wilmington, Delaware, Hagley is the site of the gunpowder works founded by E. I. du Pont in 1802. This example of early American industry includes restored mills, a workers' community, and the ancestral home and gardens of the du Pont family.

We have all the same walls and sheep history here in Nova Scotia Canada

Very interesting- and it adds some nuance to that poem “Mending Wall” by that New Englander Robert Frost😊

The important question. How do I disguise a sheep? My mother would joke about New England rock farming. Her family once had orchards in Massachusetts. I was read old stories about native encounters. Field stone walls confused the natives because they had no concept of property ownership. And, natives didn’t understand that they were stealing fruit. So, I thought farmers walls had existed before Napoleon’s time.

Very nice and informative, I always clear all fields of stone and deposit them near the plants that need warmth in winter as well as near and in water beds to warm up the water... Stone walls really complement nature, if done well

Interesting and well produced. Thanks 6:04

Thanks for the history lesson. I especially liked the Napoleon Dynamite pic.😂

This is so interesting! Thanks for sharing!

I love the educational style videos. More! More!

Thank you.

Very, very interesting. I knew I did not the real story of the stone walls.

There are small flocks of sheep that are left to graze on small islands along the coast of Maine.

Very neat!

Pretty cool! Thanks 🖖🐰🍷

2:50 you walked past what looked like to me an old root cellar is that what it was?

There's stone walls like that in Kentucky too. I wonder if they're for the same reasons.