Hancock History A Look Back... Of Apples, Eggs and Boulders         Much of the landscape of Hancock is studded with large rocks, which can pose a challenge to anyone who plants a garden or mows a lawn. One hundred years ago, a Hancock farmer developed an ingenious method of farming his rocky homestead that was so successful he not only earned a fine living but also achieved national notice for his innovative methods.   Charles Edson Lorin, known as C.E.L., Hayward raised Baldwin apples and poultry on land one national magazine described as "…rough and rocky, for the most part, and not adapted to general farming." He successfully combined a substantial orchard of several thousand apple trees and a unique method of egg production, wintering 3,000-5,000 laying hens in small structures built in long rows between the trees. It required five men just to care for the poultry; eggs were gathered daily and shipped to Boston via train from Hancock. The June 19, 1904 issue of the Los Angeles Sunday Times described the Hayward farm as the "World's Biggest Egg Farm." Another 75 men were employed each autumn to pick, sort and pack an average of 700 wooden barrels of apples a day to be shipped to Boston and from there to Liverpool, England. By 1907 C.E.L. was one of the largest exporters of apples in New England. A photograph of the Hayward farm in a 1904 issue of the New England Homestead is captioned "…loose stones and boulders form no insurmountable barrier to making a living off poultry and apples, the products of an extensive farm in southern NH."   C.E.L.'s home still stands on Vatcher Road; it is the last house before the bridge. Cindy Ryer, Hancock Happenings, Volume 1, June 1999   Return to Homepage- Write to the HHS Hancock Historical Society, Hancock, N.H., ©2003