12 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 387 



Table 3. — Percentage of Land Suitability by Towns— continued 



Town or 

 City 



Suitability for 

 Agriculture 



Good Me- 

 dium 



Set- 

 tled 

 Poor Areas 



Water 



Town or 

 City 



Suitability for 

 Agriculture Set- 



tied Water 



Poor Areas 



Good 



Me- 

 dium 



Worcester County — Cont. 



Brookfield.. 24.9 36.3 29.9 3.3 



Charlton.... 54.9 29.2 12.6 .8 



Clinton 11.3 26.3 13.1 23.6 



Douglas 14.4 30.9 50.1 1.3 



Dudley 46.1 23.2 21.6 5.0 



East Brook- 

 field 32.4 30.9 27.1 4.0 



Fitchburg . . 27.3 18.4 29.5 22.9 



Gardner ... 31.8 31.6 22.1 11.1 



Grafton 37.8 35.5 21.2 3.0 



Hardwick... 17.2 26.8 51.2 .9 



Harvard 24.0 55.9 15.2 2.6 



Holden 26.7 42.6 25.1 3.7 



Hopedale... 37.1 27.9 18.8 12.9 



Hubbardston 36.6 40.2 19.8 .1 



Lancaster... 39.7 42.9 10.2 6.2 



Leicester... 39.8 36.7 14.5 2.2 



Leominster . 32.8 34.9 18.8 11.1 



Lunenburg.. 52.9 16.7 22.9 2.3 



Mendon 23.1 46.2 28.0 1.5 



Milford 21.8 34.5 32.5 10.8 



Millbury.... 31.7 43.4 13.2 8.0 



Millville 16.9 39.9 34.2 7.2 



New Brain- 

 tree 37.2 40.3 21.3 .1 



North- 

 borough. . 22.1 51.4 24.0 1.6 



Northbridge 28.0 38.5 21.3 6.3 



North Brook- 

 field 45.3 30.0 17.7 3.5 



5.6 

 2.5 

 25.7 

 3.3 

 4.1 



3.3 

 3.3 



1.0 

 6.8 



.9 

 5.9 



3.5 



Worcester County — Cont. 



Oakham 37.8 46.3 14.3 .5 



Oxford 42.4 27.9 24.5 2.7 



Paxton 65.4 11.8 17.2 .8 



Petersham.. 13.7 20.9 44.5 .3 



Phillipston.. 26.6 4.8 66.1 .1 



Princeton... 24.5 44.6 29.8 .2 



Royalston ..15.2 6.2 77.1 .4 



Rutland 50.0 33.0 14.7 .8 



Shrewsbury. 22.3 44.1 19.2 8.5 



South- 

 borough. . 29.1 32.3 22.7 5.4 

 Southbridge. 19.5 51.1 19.4 8.3 



Spencer 44.3 37.1 13.6 2.4 



SterHng 46.4 38.4 11.5 .7 



Sturbridge.. 13.4 57.2 23.3 2.0 



Sutton 32.7 29.2 32.9 1.1 



Templeton.. 29.8 27.1 38.5 2.3 



Upton 22.4 56.7 18.2 2.0 



Uxbridge. . . 35.4 38.0 22.5 2.5 



Warren 21.7 43.9 31.0 2.3 



Webster ... 17.0 23.6 30.2 13.5 



Westborough 27.2 35.5 30.4 4.5 

 West 



Boylston .27.2 43.2 20.0 2.7 



West 



Brookfield 26.1 37.3 31.3 2.7 



Westminster 35.2 34.8 25.3 .7 



Winchendon 38.3 26.7 28.3 3.6 



Worcester.. 25.3 15.6 7.0 48.6 



The County 30.0 32.7 28.7 4.5 



.9 

 1.1 

 1.5 

 5.9 



10.5 

 1.7 

 2.6 

 3.0 



4.1 

 4.1 

 2.3 



.7 

 1.6 



1.1 



15.7 



2.4 



6.9 



2.6 

 4.0 

 3.1 

 3.5 



4.1 



FACTORS AFFECTING AGRICULTURAL LAND UTILIZATION 



The extent to which land classified as suitable for agriculture on the basis of 

 soil and topography will be actually cultivated depends on a number of different 

 factors. From the data already examined it appears that in 1880 the degree of 

 land utilization was high in most of the counties, and in five important counties 

 it almost reached the practical limit of physical possibility. It remains to be 

 seen why there has been such a considerable falling off in the amount of cultivated 

 land and what major developments are likely to take place in the future. To 

 account completely for the decline in the total area in farming would require the 

 consideration of a wide variety of subjects, including such important factors as 

 technological improvements of transportation and food preservation, a radical 

 change in the methods ot farm operation and farm living, and a number of com- 

 petitive factors in land utilization and marketing emanating from other sections 

 of the country and even from some foreign markets. In dealing with land utiliza- 

 tion matters in this discussion it is intended to confine the analysis to the con- 

 sideration of important factors related to the land as they evolved in Massa- 

 chusetts. 



There are two important sets of conditions which effected a reduction in the 

 amount of cultivated land in Massachusetts. One relates to physical influences 

 and the other to economic and social factors arising from the use of land. 



