Photograph by Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station Department of Forestry
Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Forestry Image Collection

Tree stumps presented a serious obstacle for the use of cleared land. Removing tree stumps was a task perhaps even more arduous than chopping trees, and the increased value of the improved land typically did not pay for digging out tree stumps immediately. Instead, they were often left to rot until they were easy to lever out or pull with the help of oxen or horses. Side roots would rot in about 2 years but stumps of large hardwood trees could take up to 10 years to rot before they could be removed.