4 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 332 



and Norfolk Counties. Their combined acreage, however, was only about a 

 third of that of Barnstable and Plymouth Counties. The acreages of the re- 

 maining five counties that reported ranged from 70 for Dukes County to 20 

 for Berkshire, a total of 230 acres. 



By 1905, Barnstable County had 4,677 acres, an increase of more than 1,400 

 acres during the ten-year period. This was the time of the greatest expansion 

 of the industry in this county. From 1905 to 1924, this acreage decreased 

 moderately but steadily. From 1924 to 1934, it declined nearly a fifth and is 

 now only about 250 acres greater than it was in 1895. 



1885 



1895 



1905 1915 



Figure 1. 



1925 



1935 



Plymouth County increased its acreage from 1895 to 1905 by nearly two- 

 thirds, and again by more than a third from 1905 to 1915. The acreage re- 

 mained practically-unchanged from 1915 to 1924, but increased nearly 6 per- 

 cent from 1924 to 1934 when it was nearly two and a half times as great as 

 in 1895. 



Of the other counties, only Bristol and Nantucket had greater acreages in 

 1934 than they had in 1895. Bristol had increased its acreage about a fourth. 

 Nantucket, with only 34 acres in 1895, had 304 in 1934. Dukes County de- 

 creased its acreage during this period from 70 to 62; Essex, from 365 to 14; 

 Middlesex, from 641 to 128, Norfolk, from 269 to 74; and Worcester, from 

 475 to 7. Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, and Hampshire dropped out of the 

 picture. The acreage of all the counties except Barnstable and Plymouth, 

 taken as a unit, shrunk somewhat over 200 acres from 1895 to 1905, was 

 further reduced about one-half from 1905 to 1915, and has since remained 



