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PART-TIME FARMING IN MASSACHUSETTS 



By David Rozman, Assistant Research Professor of Agricultural Economics 



INTRODUCTION 



There is in the State of Massacluisetts a lariie mmiber of peojile wlio 

 practice agriculture on a part-time basis. Although this system of farm- 

 ing has been present to some extent in southern New England throughout 

 the whole of the last century, it appears from this study that it has gained 

 considerably in many sections of this region during the last ten or twenty 

 years. A number of factors have been responsible for this development, 

 especially good roads and motor transportation, which enable the opera- 

 tors to travel greater distances to and from their work. 



The investigation of part-time farming was undertaken with the follow- 

 ing purposes: 



1. To determine the place of part-time farming in Massachusetts agri- 

 culture with special reference to the industrialized areas of the State. 



2. To determine the types of part-time farming. 



3. To determine the main factors responsible for the development of 

 part-time farming. 



4. To study the effect of part-time farming on land utilization. 



5. To determine the importance of part-time farming as a source of 

 food supply. 



6. To determine to what extent part-time farming competes Mith regu- 

 lar agriculture in the State. 



7. To analyze the economic and social consecjuences of part-time farm- 

 ing for the operators and their families. 



8. To jirovide a more adetpiate basis for agricultural policies connect- 

 ed with problems of part-time farming. 



The data for this study were obtained by means of a survey of three 

 difl'erent areas selected with a view to obtaining a ])icture of part-time 

 farming in localities with varying conditions of agriculture, industrial 

 employment, and nationality of operators. In the northeastern section of 

 the State the investigation was carried on in four towns situated around 

 the city of Lowell; in the southeastern section, in the four towns between 

 Taunton and Fall River; and in the central part, in the town of Tlolden in 

 Worcester County. 



Part-Time Farming Defined, 



As conceived in this study, ]iart-tiinc farming represents on one hand a 

 coml)ined use of ojjcrator's lal)()r in liis agricultural cnterjirise and in some 

 otiuM- emi)loymcnt, and on the other liand a combined use of land for agri- 

 culture and for other purposes, i)rin('ii)ally residential and recreational. 

 The question naturally arises as to how mucli time a regular farmer will 



^ The practice of agriculture on a part-time basis in New England has been frequent- 

 ly referred to by many writers. It does not seem, however, that an independent study 

 devoted specifically to this prol)lem has ever been made. The term "part-time farm- 

 ing" has been introduced in this study to take the place of a number of different names 

 ordinarily used to describe similar conditions, like "farming in the twilight zone," 

 "one-cow farmer," "back-yard farmer," "amphibian," and so forth. 



