124 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 266 



their earninp;s or cut down living expenses. In their association with 

 part-time farming these factors often cannot be separated one fron\ the 

 other. 



The consideration of improving health and housing conditions came 

 next in importance, particularly to the operators with large families. 

 Although the cost of housing in part-time farming was not always lower, 

 they found in the country more room space, fresh air, more light, and 

 better playgrounds for the children, who were freed from the dangers 

 of congested city traffic. Operators who settled on the land in order to 

 improve their own health or that of some member of the family, as a rule 

 became accustomed and attached to country life and work so that they 

 remained in part-time farming after the immediate cause of the change 

 of residence was removed. 



Unemployment was an immediate cause of entering part-time farmina: 

 for a few operators in both areas. The use of part-time farming in times 

 of unemployment is, however, of some significance to all engaged in it, and 

 many operators with large families would have found themselves help- 

 less without this additional income. 



Some became part-time farmers in order to develop a small enterprise 

 which would supply at least a part of their living when they could no 

 longer find employment on account of old age. Although only a few in 

 each area mentioned this reason as responsible for their decision to settle 

 on the land, its significance, like that of the unemployment factor, seemed 

 to be felt by a good many part-time farmers. 



In some cases tlie operators could not assign a definite reason for mov- 

 ing into the country and settling on the land, except for the general 

 statement that they preferred country to city life. 



Size of Landholdings 



The average size of landholdings for all part-time farming enter- 

 prises is shown in Table 19. As compared with rented enterprises, the 

 average size of owned enterprises was slightly larger in the Taunton area, 

 and smaller in the Lowell area. 



Table 19. — Size of owned and rented landholdings in part-time farming 



enterprises. 



Landholdings 



Number Per cent 



Average 

 size 



Taunton area 



."Average 

 Per cent size 



Owr.ed 



Rented. . . . 

 Total 



The distribution of sizes of all enterprises, as shown in Table 20, 

 indicates that almost one-half of the holdings in both areas were less 

 than three acres in size. The higher percentage of large landholdings 

 (10 acres or over) in Taunton area was primarily due to the comparative 

 prevalence of seasonal part-time farming. 



