FARM OF MR. WILLIAM K. TOWNSEND. 
357 
found on and about the premises, sea-mud on the 
beach, &c., and place them in his barn-yard. In 
this way, the second spring after occupancy, he 
had a large compost heap of about 200 cart-loads, 
with which to commence enriching his land. 
Rotation of Crops. —Mr. Townsend decided 
upon keeping a herd of about 20 cows for the pur¬ 
pose of sending milk to New Haven; milk, there¬ 
fore, is his main crop, and for the production of 
this and keeping a few pigs for sale, he adopts his 
rotation. 
The first year from 20 to 50 loads of manure are 
carted on to a sod field, spread broad-cast, and then 
plowed under. This is usually planted with corn, 
and manured in the hill with a small quantity of 
ashes, poudrette, or rotted stable manure. This 
gives the crop a good start till the roots reach the 
manure plowed under, which, together with the 
decomposing sod, keeps it rapidly growing. At 
the time the ears begin to form, a handful of ashes 
or plaster is spread on each hill, for the purpose of 
assisting to perfect the seed, and make the crop 
fuller and more abundant. As soon as glazed, the 
corn is cut up and bound into small stocks, and 
husked at leisure. Mr. Townsend prefers the va¬ 
riety for planting which not only yields a good ear, 
but rather a slender stalk, as he finds small stalks 
full-leaved make better fodder, and are eaten up 
much cleaner than the larger kinds. Such was 
our own practice when farming, .and we do not 
think sufficient attention is'paid to this important 
part of the corn crop. With this system, 70 to 75 
bushels of shelled corn per acre is not an uncom¬ 
mon yield with Mr. Townsend. 
The second year, the land is manured at the 
rate of 20 loads to the acre, spread broad-cast and 
planted with potatoes. The yield is from 200 to 
“250 bushels per aere. If these can be got off in 
season, the field is sowed with rye in the fall, and 
if not, with barley or oats in the spring. With 
the grain, the land is seeded down to grass, at the 
rate of 12 quarts of timothy, 4 quarts of red top, 
and 4 quarts of clover per acre. The meadows 
are usually mowed four years, and then pastured 
two years. They get an occasional top-dressing 
of compost in the fall, together with plaster in the 
spring, at the rate of from one to three bushels 
per acre; and although the land lies upon the 
Sound, and is constantly exposed to sea air, as re¬ 
marked in our November No., the plaster has a 
very beneficial effect. The meadows are usually 
moderately pastured in the fall, but never in the 
spring. 
In addition to the above crops, Mr. Townsend 
annually sows a patch of turneps, and plants an 
acre of pumpkins. This last crop is produced by 
heavily manuring broad-cast, a piece of sod, and 
then turn it fiat over. The hills are further en¬ 
riched with hog manure, placed 10 feet apart, and 
two vines only left in each. An acre thus cultiva¬ 
ted produces from 15 to 25 large cart-loads of 
pumpkins, which prove excellent food for milch 
cows. The apple and peach orchard of well-se¬ 
lected trees, occupies 10 acres, and is a source of 
some income ; all the refuse fruit is fed to the 
Pigs- 
Stock.— Mr. Townsend finds the Durhams and 
their grades make the best milkers, and in select¬ 
ing these, he has had reference to such as stand 
well to the pail. Some of his cows will, if he 
wishes it, give milk from calving to calving again, 
though, for fear of injuring the growth of the foetus, 
he usually lets them go dry from one to two 
months. His grade steers prove excellent working 
cattle, and when turned out to fatten take on flesh 
remarkably well. He showed a pair of the lar¬ 
gest and finest animals two years since, at the 
American Institute, we believe that were ever ex¬ 
hibited in this city. We saw a pair of Durham 
bulls at work here, famous fellows, that would go 
along comfortably over the farm with a three-ton 
load. 
Buildings. —Soon after coming on to the farm, 
Mr. Townsend commenced erecting new buildings, 
which are not only handsome, but roomy and very 
convenient. His piggery is an excellent model to 
copy after, as well as the barn and stables. Every 
animal on the farm has a stall for itself at night in 
winter, and agoodyard to exercise in by day. By 
keeping so much stock, and feeding all his produce 
at home, large quantities of manure are made here 
where formerly scarcely any was produced. - If we 
recollect right, Mr. Townsend informed us he now 
makes 300 loads of manure per annum entirely 
from the resources of his own farm, and he meant 
to continue increasing his stock of it, and go on 
improving the land, till he can get 3 to 4 tons of 
grass per acre, and other crops in proportion. We 
think that making manure from the resources ot 
one’s own farm, is little understood as yet in this 
country. By properly stocking our land, draining 
it, and adopting a judicious rotation of crops, we 
are confident that there are few farms which may 
not be placed in an improving condition without 
foreign aid, and at the same time be paying a fair 
interest on the first investment. Such has been 
the case with Mr. Townsend, he not only improv¬ 
ing his farm and his stock at the same time he 
