PART-TIME FARMING 117 



PART-TIME FARMING IN INDUSTRIALIZED AREAS- 

 LOWELL AND TAUNTON 



The study in Lowell and Taunton areas was made in the spring and 

 summer of 1928 and was confined to part-time farruing enterprises where 

 the heads of families were engaged as industrial laborers, , artisans, farm 

 or otlier manual laborers. In these areas the information from the 

 ojjerators was obtained on the basis of a detailed (|uestionnaire, taking 

 a record of the history of their occupations, date of settlement on the land, 

 extent of farm operations, and earnings both from the farm and outside 

 of it. Office workers and professional and business men engaged in 

 jiart-time farming were not included in this part of the survey, the 

 intention being to determine the economic and social set-up of part-time 

 farming t)nly for a definite group of wage earners. A further limitation 

 on the investigation was made by including only operators who produced 

 $100 worth or more of agricultural products during the year. A total 

 of 115 records was taken in Lowell area and 84 in Taunton area as \ 

 sample of part-time farming enterprises with these qualifications. 



Description of the Areas 



Within the four towns making up the Lowell area studied, there were, 

 in 1928, nineteen industrial plants with a total of 2,496 operatives em- 

 ployed.^ The city of Lowell had at the same time 18.5 industrial plants 

 with a total of about 53,000 employees. 



In Taunton area there were eleven industrial plants within the towns 

 in which the operators resided, with a total of 1,697 employees. In the 

 city of Fall River there were 133 industrial plants with a total of 42,618 

 employees, and in the city of Taunton 79 industrial establishments which 

 employed about 20,000 operatives. 



In times of normal industrial activity, part-time farmers living within 

 the investigated areas find good opportunities for employment within 

 their districts. In the last few years, however, the conditions of employ- 

 ment have been rather unfavorable, due to depression in the textile in- 

 dustries, so that a number of operators have been employed only for a 

 few months in the year or have worked only three or four days during 

 the week. 



Both Lowell and Taunton areas are well connected with the industrial 

 centers around which they are situated and offer to operators fairly 

 good facilities for communication with the place of their work. Trolley 

 lines, trains, and busses operate in both areas, and the roads for auto 

 traffic are in good condition. Where the farms are situated on country 

 roads, ordinarily only short distances separate them from the main roads. 



The types of soil found in these areas, as in the town of Holden, are 

 diverse. In Taunton area there are large sections of sandy loam which, 

 with a sufficient use of fertilizers, is well adapted to market gardening. 

 Small areas of good valley soil are found along the Merrimac River in 

 lyowell area and along the Taunton River in Taunton area. The average 

 elevation of Lowell area is about 200 feet. The Taunton area is much 

 flatter, and has an elevation of only 100 feet above sea level. 



The majority of operators found their employment in the industrial 

 centers nearest to their place of residence. The average distance to 



* Directory of Massachusetts Mamifacturers. Sampson and JNlurdock Co., Boston. 

 1928. 



