10 



MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 294 



and others situated near or on the coast the average farm land values are excep- 

 tionally high, reaching as high a level as $160 per acre in Harwich on Cape Cod, in 

 spite of the fact that in most of them one-half or more of the area is in non- 

 resident ownership. 



With the exception of the specific sectionsabove noted there is no definite indica- 

 tion, however, that high values of land cause the abandonment of farming in large 

 areas. In about one-half of the 71 towns included in this study, the average value 

 of land owned by residents was above $50 per acre, while only 38 per cent of the 

 towns reached this figure in the case of non-resident ownership. Furthermore, 

 the average value of all land held by non-residents is only $66.15 per acre as com- 

 pared with $84.48 for the land held by residents, indicating that the land of the 

 latter in whatever use it may be is of a more valuable quality. 



Elevation of Land 



Other things being equal the abandonment of farm land in Massachusetts 

 ordinarily develops in the sections characterized by a predominance of hills and 

 rough land not well adapted for profitable cultivation by agricultural machinery. 

 It is therefore natural to find the towns with a higher elevation having a large 

 portion of their land area taken out of agricultural use. The amount of non- 

 resident land ownership in these towns indicates the extent to which this process 

 goes. 



An attempt has been made in this study to estimate the average elevation of 

 Massachusetts towns on the basis of the figures given by the United States Geolog- 

 ical Survey. The data thus obtained are compared in Chart 6 with percentage 

 of non-resident land ownership in the same towns. The comparison of the two 

 curves on the whole upholds the previous statement about the abandoned farm 

 land. There is a definite tendency toward a higher percentage of non-resident 

 land ownership in the towns having a higher average elevation. In fact, the half 

 of the towns with the lowest percentage of non-resident land ownership has an 

 average elevation of only 487.1 feet as compared with an average elevation of 

 726.9 for the upper group of towns. 



PERCENTAGE. 

 100 



25 



FtET 

 lOOO 



75 



250 



Chart 6. — Average Elevation and Percentage of Acreage Owned by Non-Resldents, 71 

 Massachusetts Towns. 



