A FREAK OF NATURE
Walton Hall had at one time its own cornmill, and when that inconvenient necessity no longer existed, the millstone was laid aside in an orchard and forgotten. The diameter of the circular stone measured five feet and a half, while its depth averaged seven inches throughout ; its central hole had a diameter of eleven inches. By mere accident some bird or squirrel had dropped the fruit of the filbert trtfe through this hole on the earth, and in 1812 the seedling was seen rising up through that unwonted channel. As its trunk gradually grew through the aperture and increased, its power to raise the ponderous mass of stone was speculated on by many. Would the filbert tree die in the attempt ? Would it burst the millstone qr would it lift it ? In the eral the little filbert tree lifted the millstone, and in 1863 wore it like a crinoline about its trunk, and someone used to sit upon it under the branching shade.
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Bibliographic details
Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 41, 22 May 1906, Page 8
Word Count
167A FREAK OF NATURE Northland Age, Volume 2, Issue 41, 22 May 1906, Page 8
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