LAND USES 17 



The chart showing average farm land values by individual counties indicates 

 a wide variation, with Franklin County at the lowest level of $20.78 and Barnstable 

 County reaching $107.63 per acre. In considering these average farm land values 

 it is important to keep in mind that they refer to all the land in farms irrespective 

 of the cover and use. The land which is actually used for farming operations is, 

 however, only a fraction of the total land area. (Table 4) For the State as a 

 whole 40.5 percent of the total farm land is classified as improved. By individual 

 counties it varies from 31.6 percent in Plymouth County to 48.2 percent in Essex. 

 Thus it becomes clear that the average value for the land actually used in farming 

 is at least twice as high as indicated by official figures. The fact that the average 

 value per acre of farm land in Franklin County is the lowest in the State may be 

 attributed, to a certain extent, to the small proportion of improved land. More 

 important, however, is the general location of Franklin County and the low 

 density of population that place it in a position where present or potential high 

 land uses exert only a slight influence. 



Table 4. — Percentage of Farm Land Improved, 

 BY Counties 



Percent of Farm Land Improved 



County 



1935 1940 



Barnstable 32.5 36.3 



Berkshire 31.0 42.3 



Bristol 39 . 6 45 . 7 



Essex 40.3 48.2 



Franklin 25.5 33.5 



Hampden 34 . 3 33 . 5 



Hampshire 33.9 43.4 



Middlesex 41.5 47.0 



Norfolk 37.9 41.2 



Plymouth 33.0 31.6 



Worcester 35.8 42.0 



The State 34.5 40.5 



The average land value in Berkshire County is only slightly higher than in 

 Franklin County, or $22.38 per acre. While Berkshire County is even farther 

 removed from large centers of population and is, therefore, comparatively free 

 from the influence of higher land uses in that direction, there is an important 

 recreational factor related to exceedingly favorable local natural conditions. 

 In addition, the proportion of land in farms classified as improved is somewhat 

 higher than in Franklin County. In Hampshire, Hampden, and Worcester 

 counties both the proportion of improved land in farms and the average value per 

 acre of farm land are on about the same level, whiv^h, in the matter of land values, 

 is almost 50 percent higher than in the two preceding counties. In general, farm 

 land values per acre increase going from the western to the eastern part of the 

 State. In all the counties lying east of Worcester the average value of farm land 

 is over $50, with Plymouth and Barnstable exceeding $100 per acre. In all these 

 counties land values reach a very high level by virtue both of greater pressure 

 from higher land uses and of the fact that land in agriculture becomes more 

 profitable because of proximJty to densely settled consuming areas. Of these 

 two influences the first is of far greater importance. 



