TYPE-OF-FARMING AREAS IN MASS. 



263 



eration of the maps on tlie following pages shows the degree to which the 

 various enterprises are correhited witli one another and with the natural 

 and economic factors affecting their distril)ution. 



Figure 9. Dairy Cows on Farms, January 1, 1925. 





MASSACHUSCTTi 



1 dot = 50 covrs 



<2^ 



Dairi/iii<f. 



Dairying is the most inijiortant single source of farm income in Massa- 

 chusetts. Figure 9 indicates the wide distribution of dairy cows. Compari- 

 son with the topographic map shows that the areas more sjiarsely populated 

 with cows correspond with the rough land in the Berkshires and in the 

 North Central Upland. The Cape region likewise has a small number of 

 cows. Many factors have combined to bring about tliis wide distrll)ution 

 of dairy cows as well as their lack of concentration in certain areas. The 

 primary ones are probably physical or natural, although economic factors 

 such as proximity to markets are also very significant. 



The distribution of the chief feed crops and of feed purchased is shown 

 in Figure 10. Most dairymen, excejit in some places in the eastern end of 

 the state, grow enough roughage to supply their cows, and so the distribu- 

 tion of hay and corn closely follows that of dairy cows. In the case of corn, 

 production falls off rather more sharply in sections at higher elevation than 

 does hay production, as might be expected. Considerably more feed is pur- 

 chased in the eastern part of the state than in the western. This is partly 

 because cows are fed more heavily of concentrates in that part of the state, 

 and partly because purchased feed also includes poultry feed, of which there 

 is a greater quantity purchased in eastern Massachusetts. 



Poultry. 



Poultry and egg production have been increasingly important in recent 

 years. Figure 11 shows the distribution of poultry on farms on January 1, 

 192.5. There is more poultry in the eastern areas of the state, although some 

 western towns also have a large number. Poultry production is carried on 

 both as a specialized, single-enterprise business and as a supplementary part 

 of a general farming system. 



