LAND USES 27 



Water Supply Areas 



With the growth of urban areas and industrial centers in the State, it has 

 become necessary to keep an increasing amount of land for water-supply systems. 

 The areas involved are not only those actually linder water but also the surround- 

 ing territory kept under control for the protection of the reservoirs. Some of the 

 areas so kept were formerly in agricultural use and some would still be used if 

 they were not incorporated into the water-supply systems. The largest area of 

 land under a water system is controlled by the Boston Metropolitan Water 

 System which extends far into the western part of the State. It has recently been 

 augmented by the Quabbin Reservoir which caused the disappearance of four 

 towns and reorganization in the areas of several others. The total area controlled 

 by the Metropolitan Water System is 98,383 acres, the major portion of which 

 is connected with the Quabbin Reservoir. 



Airports and Flying Fields 



Airports and flying fields have come into existence in some parts of the State 

 and are being developed in others. This is another illustration of new uses for* 

 land which may take land already abandoned by agriculture as well as areas 

 which are still valuable for farming. 



Military Camps and Areas for Defense Activities 



In several towns considerable land areas are being used for military camps. 

 In connection with the present defense activities more land has been taken for 

 various military needs, including some sections which are important from the 

 standpoint of agricultural land utilization. This is not likely to continue beyond 

 the present emergency, although som.e of the land taken out of farming now is 

 likely to be permanently lost to agriculture. 



Highways 



The intensification of automotive traffic in the last two or three decades has 

 been accompanied by an extensive program of highway' construction. Some of 

 the modern highways follow existing road facilities. Others have been constructed 

 through new areas including some occupied by farming. This and the fact that 

 the existence of new roads has made some of the adjacent land more valuable for 

 purposes other than farming has resulted in a decrease in the total amount of 

 land in agriculture. On the other hand, the construction aud improvement of 

 secondary roads in rural sections have been beneficial to some farming areas, 

 making their cultivation more desirable and advantageous. 



Woodland 



One of the most important consequences of land utilization changes in Massa- 

 chusetts during the last several decades has been a steady increase in land areas 

 under wooded cover. As land areas under cultivation have gone out of use they 

 have almost invariably developed a wooded cover — a natural thing under Massa- 

 chusetts conditions. As determined from the analysis of the Land Use Survey, 

 almost two-thirds of the total area of the State, is under wooded cover.'' The 

 variation by counties runs from the highest, 73.1 percent found in Barnstable 



'This term includes all types of timber growth from brushland to good stands of merchantable 

 timber. 



