New Hampshire's Idle Farm Land 



By W. K. Burkett 

 Associate Agricultural Economist 



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To whom this bulletin is addressed: This bulletin is 

 addressed to owners of idle farm land and to farmers 

 as potential users of such land. The incomes of both 

 of these groups may be directly affected by whether 

 and how this land is used. It is also addressed to the 

 public which is interested as consumers of farm pro- 

 ducts and as viewers of the New England scene. And 

 finally it is addressed to professional agricultural 

 workers who are interested in the efficient use of ' 

 agricultural resources and in the welfare of farmers 

 and others. 



Chapter I. The Background and Purpose of This Study 



The Problem 



A GREAT many people, farmers and nonfarmers, have expressed concern 

 that a large amount of New Hampshire's farm land, and this applies 

 almost equally well to much of the Northeastern states region, apparently is 

 in various stages of abandonment or disuse for agricultural purposes. The 

 concern is common but the form which this concern takes varies widely 

 between persons. This is not strange since individuals view the problem from 

 different backgrounds of time and training, from different personal economic 

 interests, and from different degrees of closeness to the problem. However, 

 if we are to get a forward-looking, constructive point of view, we need to: 

 (1) Find our approximate place in changing times by a brief look at trends 

 in New Hampshire farming; (2) Analyze information which seems likely 

 to provide a clearer picture and suggest a solution to the present problem. 

 The second point is the main purpose of this bulletin. 



Some Historical Background 



Anyone who has driven on back roads in New England has seen the in- 

 numerable stone fences stretching back into the woods where once there were 

 fields. He has also seen the old cellar holes and lilac bushes where once 

 there were farmsteads. Historically, New England agriculture has undergone 

 great changes. 1 One might add that the change, as far as individual farm- 



1 See, for example, (a) Wilson, H. F., The Hilt Country of Northern New England: 

 Its Social and Economic History, 1780-1930. Columbia University, New York, 1936. (b) 

 Woodworth, Abell, and Holmes, Problems in the Back Highland Areas of Southern 

 Grafton County, New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 298, June 

 1937, pp. 46-53. 



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