Walter Greenbaum, who resided in Madison, Champaign and Union counties, took this photo in the mid-1920s to early 1930s on the farm of Art and Charlyne Bullard. The farm was located on Bullard-Rutan Road, one-and-a-half miles north of Five Points where routes 161 and 559 converge northeast of Mechanicsburg.

The scene shows two men preparing to remove stumps from a field before planting. Their choices were to burn the stumps or blow them up with dynamite. Lyn Schener, the great niece of Walter Greenbaum and the daughter of Art and Charlyne Bullard, submitted this photo.

Note the split rail fence in the background. This was one form of fencing in farmland in the early years. To learn more about all sorts of fences, visit the traveling Smithsonian exhibit, "Between the Fences," on display at the Madison County Historical Society Museum until April 5. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The museum is located at 260 E. High St. in London.

—Earl Ballenger is a London resident.