LAND USES 3 



dealing largely with topography, climate, the classification and preponderance of 

 different types of soil, the character of land use, and the type of settlement in 

 rural areas. The other concerns the fundamental relationships between agri- 

 cultural and other uses of land, which are of special importance in the rural areas 

 of an industrialized state like Massachusetts. 



The physical conditions of land resources, with diversity of soils, topography, 

 and climate, and the proximity to densely populated areas have combined to 

 form a complicated pattern of land utilization in rural areas of Massachusetts. 

 Agricultural land uses, moreover, are determined in many cases by the type and 

 character of other kinds of land utilization which have come into prominence 

 over a period of time. To determine the present condition of agricultural land 

 use in the State it is important, therefore, not only to indicate various factors 

 directly related to farming, but to analyze the elements of interdependence 

 existing among a number of land uses. 



SOURCES OF INFORMATION 



In preparation of this bulletin, field studies were made in conjunction with 

 an analysis of existing basic data pertaining to land utilization. Beginning with 

 the Census of 1925 statistics on important agricultural matters became available 

 by minor civil divisions. This gave an opportunity to gain a clearer insight into 

 the agricultural situation by the analysis of individual rural commimities. For 

 an exhaustive study of land utilization in a locality it is, however, essential to 

 have more than these general data. The basic problem is to know how different 

 land uses are distributed in the community and where they are located. This 

 involves detailed mapping of agricultural and other important land uses in rural 

 areas. Such mapping was accomplished through the organization of and partici- 

 pation in a land-use survey sponsored by the State Planning Board and carried 

 out by WPA workers throughout the entire area of the Commonwealth.^ (Boston 

 area and the Islands excluded.) The most important contribution of this survey 

 lies in the fact that for individual communities and the State as a whole the use 

 of land areas, mapped out on the scale of two inches to the mile, became definite 

 as to the location of crop land, plowable and unimproved pasture, woodland, and 

 settled and water areas. On a separate map of the same scale is indicated the 

 location of farms as well as of other buildings in rural areas, including schools, 

 churches, hospitals, stores, and other public and private structures. 



Another important source of information was the soil survey made by the 

 United States Soil Service over a period of years. In view of the diversity of 

 soil types with their exceedingly scattered distribution in various areas it has been 

 difficult to form a clear picture of their relative significance as presented by the 

 extensive classification cf the United States Soil Survey. In the present study 

 all the soil types were divided into seven major groups largely on the basis of 

 their texture and topography. By way of further simplification these groups 

 were subdivided into areas of good, medium, or poor suitability for agricultural 

 purposes. (Table 1) While for the purposes of agronomy and farm management 

 such simplification may not be recognized as of sufficient accuracy or detail, 

 from the standpoint of determining broad land-use relationships it appears to be 

 of definite value and of sufficient scientific accuracy. On this basis the major 

 types of land were mapped out for each town in the State. 



-By sponsoring and carrying out this survey, the Massachusetts State Planning Board, under the 

 chairmanship of Miss Elisabeth M. Herlihy, provided a real working basis for effective planning in 

 rural areas of the State. 



