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TYPE-OF-FARMING AREAS IN MASSACHUSETTS 



By Ronald L. Mighell, Assistant Professor, and Marian Brown, Laboratory 

 Assistant, Department of Farm Management 



Introduction. 



The purpose of a type-of-farming study such as this is to provide a cross- 

 section picture of the agriculture in a state or region at a particular time; 

 to indicate the extent and limits of the chief areas where farm products and 

 practices are similar; to show some of the physical and economic factors 

 lying back of the diiferences, and thus to provide a more complete basis for 

 recommendations and plans for future farming. 



The term "type-of-farming" is usually associated with the idea of regional 

 specialization. For example, there is a corn belt type of farming in the 

 Middle West, a cotton type of farming in the South, and a dairy type of 

 farming in New England. Type-of-farming has been defined as a form of 

 organization and a method of operation, representative of a group of farms, 

 in wiiich there is a higii degree of uniformity in such essential factors as 

 selection of farm enterprises, farm practice, and method of disposal of 

 products. In Massachusetts we have several distinct types of farming. 



Figure 1 shows the location of Massachusetts farms on January 1, l.')2.5. 

 These farms differed from one another in size, topography, soil, crops, live- 

 stock, methods of operation, and in many other ways. The reasons for some 

 of these differences are considered in the following discussion. 



How Types of Farming Develop. 



Why are some farmers dairymen, while others are poultrjinen, or market 

 gardeners? How does it happen that tobacco and onions are grown in the 

 Connecticut Valley? WHiat causes a concentration of apple production in tlie 

 Nashoba district? All of these things arise as a result of the acts of indi- 

 vidual farmers trying to make the most of the resources at their command. 

 Their resources and the best use to make of them are determined by natural 

 and economic conditions. The natural conditions of soil, topography, and 

 climate are relatively permanent, while the economic forces are changing more 

 or less continuously. Among the economic forces are such things as location 

 of markets, transportation facilities, available capital, and state or city 

 policies. For example, the increase in population in eastern Massachusetts 

 has brought a milk supply from farther north and west. Rigid dairy inspec- 

 tion sometimes makes it diificult for milk to be shipped into a given locality 

 and thus creates a market whicli would not otherwise exist for nearby dairy- 

 men. The organization of a coojierative packing association may make it 

 possible to secure higher prices for apples through grading. 



This study points out the chief physical and economic factors underlying 

 types of farming in Massachusetts. It also shows the distribution of the 

 principal crops and livestock according to the farm census of 1925, and 

 marks out certain tyj)e-of-farming areas. 



