LAND TYPES OF MASSACHUSETTS 7 



The relationship of erosion to land use is shown by tables 3 and 4. With 

 the exception of the idle land, the acreage of which was so small as to 

 throw doubt on the value of deductions based on it, the percentages of 

 the land-use classes in the erosion classes are fairly uniform (table 3). 

 Cropland had the lowest percentage showing no erosion, slightly more 

 than pasture and woodland showing slight erosion, and next to the least 

 amount of severe erosion. Severe erosion was percentually very small in 

 all classes. Moderate erosion was most abundant on pasture land. 



It is difficult to interpret erosion in this area in terms of land use 

 because of marked and continuous changes in land use since 1880. Much 

 land now in permanent pasture or woodland was previously cropped. 

 Soils activeh' eroded at the peak of agricultural development have in 

 many cases become stabilized by grass or forest cover, but the evidence 

 of erosion still exists. This doubtless accounts largely for the uniformity 

 of the figures under the different types of land use. Also, since erosion 

 has been, and is, only slight to moderate, as a factor determining land use 

 it was outweighed by the more significant factors of slope and stoniness; 

 or at least these factors were apparently considered more significant by 

 the farmer. 



In the survey, sheet erosion was found to be by far the most common 

 and extensive type. Occasional gully erosion was mapped on 17.9 acres, 

 or 0.13 percent of the area. For practical, interpretative purposes, this 

 class was thrown in with moderate erosion in this study. The damage 

 caused by sheet erosion is less obvious to the average farmer than is that 

 line to gullying, and can to some extent be counteracted by a generous 

 use of soil supplements. These facts probably account to a considerable 

 degree for the apparent unimportance of erosion as a factor influencing 

 land use. 



Table 5. Distribution of Erosion Classes in Each Slope Class. 

 (Acres and percentage given.) 



Slope Class 

 and Range 

 in Percent 



None 

 Apparent 



Erosion 



Slight 



Moderate Severe 



Total 



A (0-3) Acres 



Percent 



B (3-8) Acres 



Percent 



BB (8-15) Acres 



Percent 



C (15-25) Acres 



Percent 



D (25 + ) Acres 



Percent 



Total area Acres 



Percent 



489.0 



13.8 



12.4 



0.3 



2.8 

 0.1 



0.4 

 (1) 

 0.0 



0.0 



3043.5 

 86.0 



4570.9 

 96.6 



2899.1 

 82.7 

 513.2 

 51.2 

 66.9 

 15.5 



8.3 

 0.2 



148.3 

 3.1 



602.0 

 17.2 



482.5 

 ^8.1 



352.5 

 81.7 



504.6 11093.6 1593.6 

 3.8 84:0 12.1 



0.0 

 0.0 



0.0 

 0.0 



0.6 

 (1) 

 6.7 

 0.7 

 12.0 

 2.8 



19.3 

 0.1 



3540.8 

 100.0 



4731.6 

 100.0 



3504.5 

 100.0 



1002.8 

 100.0 



431.4 

 100.0 



13211.1 

 100.0 



(1) Less than 0.1 percent. 



