266 
Farm of mr. hammond, etc. 
FARM OF MR. HAMMOND. 
This farm lies in the town of Worcester, Massa¬ 
chusetts, and is one mile from the Court House. 
It comprises 121 acres, 17 of which are in 
wood land, 8, if we remember right, still in unreclaim¬ 
ed bog meadow, and 4 are taken up with yards and 
buildings, leaving, in fact, only 92 acres actually in 
tillage. We are thus particular in this statement, in 
order to show our readers how much may be realized 
from a moderate sized farm, of an ordinary quality of 
soil, when eligibly situated and properly managed. 
But first of the man. Mr. Hammond is an excel¬ 
lent specimen of a hard-working New England farm¬ 
er. He began the world with little or nothing sav¬ 
ing his own hands, a good constitution, active and 
industrious habits, and indomitable perseverance. He 
informed us that for the first six years after becoming 
of age, he worked out by the month for other farmers, 
and from his wages at the end of this time had saved 
enough to set up for himself ; but it was not till 1835 
that he was enabled to purchase his present farm. 
When he came on to it the land was in quite an ex¬ 
hausted condition, the fences indifferent, and the 
buildings so miserable that neither man nor beast could 
inhabit them with any comfort. Now he has erect¬ 
ed on it a noble barn of handsome architecture, 90 by 
42 feet, which will hold 80 tons of hay, and has in 
addition numerous stalls for his cattle; built him a 
pretty two story house, and several outbuildings; 
made new fences ; planted an ample garden with fruits 
and flowers ; set out a large orchard of choice apple- 
trees ; drained nearly worthless bog meadows, 
and transformed them into the best of grass land ; 
cleared off the stone and enriched his land so 
highly that he gets on an average, 2 to 3 tons of hay 
per acre, 45 to 60 bushels of corn, and 40 to 50 of 
barley, where previously not half, and in some in¬ 
stances not one-third of these crops were gathered; 
and accomplished other things too numerous to men¬ 
tion : and all this, it must be understood, besides re¬ 
spectably supporting and educating hi's family, has 
been done from the earnings of the farm. Not a dol¬ 
lar is he in debt for it, and not a dollar has he brought 
in by foreign business to improve it, unless a few 
trades in selling off his aged animals, and buying 
younger ones to replace them, can be so considered. 
How has this been done, we hear our readers ask. 
As we said in the beginning, Mr. Hammond’s farm 
is within a mile of the town of Worcester, which af¬ 
fords a ready market for his hay, at the average price 
of $15 per ton, corn 75 cents per bushel, rye 87 cents, 
barley 75 .cents, oats 33 cents, potatoes 30 cents, tur¬ 
nips 17 cents, milk A\ cents per quart, and a good 
price for all the vegetables grown in a garden of be¬ 
tween two and three acres. The farm now produces 
75 to 80 tons of hay per annum ; 150 to 200 bushels 
of corn ; some barley, rye, or oats ; 800 to 1000 bush¬ 
els potatoes; 400 to 500 bushels turnips ; vegetables 
from the garden, and considerable fruit. The stock 
is two horses, 4 oxen, 17 cows, and a few swine. 
'The cows are kept for the purpose of supplying the 
citizens of Worcester with milk. 
When Mr. Hammond began his operations here, 
the informed us that in order to fertilize the nearly ex¬ 
hausted soil, he took his produce to market, and after 
disposing of it, brought back manure. But this prov¬ 
ing a laborious job, and learning the value of muck 
as a fertilizer, and having any quantity of it in a bog 
meadow, he commenced carting it into the barn-yard 
during the summer, fall, and winter, as he found 
time, spread the stable manure upon it, and thus 
ever since has made several hundred loads, annually, 
of a compost quite equal, he thinks, to ordinary barn¬ 
yard manure. 
The rotation of crops here is adapted to the situa¬ 
tion and market. Grass land is plowed in the fall, 
the next spring highly manured broad-cast, again 
plowed, and then well harrowed and planted with 
corn. The second year it is sown with barley. This 
grain is worth nearly as much as rye, and suiting 
this kind of soil well, nearly double the number of 
bushels per acre can be obtained of it that can be 
grown of rye. Grass seed is sown with the barley, 
and after that the land is kept iiPgfass as long as it is 
thought profitable. Mr. Hammond’s method of rais¬ 
ing turnips is in accordance with an old practice in 
Massachusetts. The fore part of July the cultivator 
is passed up and down between the rows of corn, 
which cuts up all remaining weeds, and leaves the 
land free and light. Turnip-seed, of the common 
field kind, is then sown, and the men follow and give 
the corn its last hoeing. In performing this opera¬ 
tion they cover the turnip-seed sufficiently well, and 
it usually produces about 100 bushels to the acre. 
One season Mr. H. got 650 bushels from four acres. 
We think it requires a very fertile soil or high ma¬ 
nuring to warrant one in taking two crops at the same 
time ; and though it may be presumptuous to differ 
from so good an authority, still we think if a 
single acre were devoted to ruta-baga, it would be 
better than raising the common turnip among corn, as 
the former is much superior to the latter in nutritive 
qualities, it keeps later and better, and 600 bushels 
may be obtained on an average from a single acre, and 
perhaps 800 to 1000 as highly as Mr. H. would cul¬ 
tivate them. 
There are many other little things about this farm 
which we would gladly speak of had we space; suf¬ 
fice it to say, that Mr. H., so far from being satisfied 
with what he has already accomplished, thinks he is 
merely prepared now to realize something for his im¬ 
provements. He will undoubtedly derive a hand¬ 
some income from his farm hereafter, and manage it 
with much less labor. Yet this great truth has al¬ 
ready been exemplified by him, namely, that land of 
a moderate degree of fertility, properly managed, can 
be greatly improved from its own resources, and at 
the same time respectably support those who culti¬ 
vate it. For one, we feel grateful to Mr. H. for doing 
what he has, and we recommend all in his vicinity to 
visit his farm, and make themselves familiar with his 
practice ; for a better example, as far as he has gone, 
we know not among our whole acquaintance. 
Samuel B. Parsons, Esq., of Flushing, Long Is¬ 
land, has now 7 returned from his European tour, and 
gives us hope of a continuation of his elegant letters. 
They will be found especially instructive to horticul 
turists. Mr. Parsons ha>s selected large quantities oi 
fruits, vines, shrubs, &c. &c., during his absence, and 
the establishment at Flushing, being extended to about 
fifty acres, is more worthy than ever of a visit from 
all amateurs of these things. The culture of good 
fruit must for a long time be a source of profit to those 
engaged in it, and w'e are glad to see an increasing 
interest in this matter. 
