UTILIZATION OF LAND . 11 



From the analysis of the factors so far presented it appears that non-resident 

 land ownership tends to develop in the towns with inferior agricultural conditions, 

 as indicated by the amount of land in farms, percentage of improved land, and 

 values of farm land. It tends to develop also in the towns with a small amount of 

 level land. 



While the hilly sections of Massachusetts are not very favorable for agricultural 

 land utilization they are well suited for the development of forests. Many of them 

 in addition have attractive scenery which will make them more and more desirable 

 for summer residences and other recreational purposes. It does not seem there- 

 fore that the development of recreational and forestry uses will conflict here to 

 any great extent with the farming industry, and in most instances this develop- 

 ment will offer the best solution of the land utilization problem. Only in the 

 towns situated close to the large centers and on the coast have the residential and 

 recreational uses actually encroached upon farming land. 



Utilization of Land in Non-Resident Ownership 



In order to determine the kind of land utilization on the areas held in non- 

 resident ownership, detailed information was obtained on each individual property 

 in 5 towns situated in different sections of the State: New Ashford in Berkshire 

 County, Paxton and Princeton in Worcester County, Warwick in Franklin County 

 and Topsfield in Essex County. The condition of these towns as shown in Table 

 6 varies widely both in percentage of assessed area in non-resident ownership and 

 in the proportion of town land in farming. In the towns of New Ashford and 

 Warwick, with three-fourths of their assessed land in non-resident ownership, a 

 high percentage of this land is in woodland and brush. This condition is character- 

 istic of most of the inland towns which have suffered a great loss in their farming 

 area. Part of this abandoned farm land is already being utilized for the develop- 

 ment of forests, summer homes, and other recreational purposes, but there are 

 still available large areas for new types of utilization, even assuming that no 

 more land will be taken out of farming. In a town like Warwick, where a very 

 small portion of the land is at present in farming and almost four-fifths of the area 

 owned by non-residents is in brush and woodland, there is considerable room for 

 this development. Although some of this land is now being taken up for State 



Table 6. — Farms, Farm Acreage, and Utilization of Land Owned by 

 Non-Residents in Five Towns 



New 

 Ashford Paxton Topsfield Princeton Warwick 



Number of farms, 1930 16 52 41 71 89 



Land in farming, 1930: 



Acres 2,891 5,535 4,356 12,036 6.017 



Per cent of total area 33.0 58.0 53.2 53.1 25.3 



Percentage of assessed acreage 



owned by non-residents, 1928 75.5 48.1 25.7 37.1 76.7 



Utilization of Land Owned by Non-Residents, by Percentages 



Woodland and brush 64.9 14.7 9.9 26.3 79.0 



Summer homes 25.7 17.5 16.8 28.2 7.0 



Country estates not used for 



farming 11.5 45.8 20.4 



Commercial 5.2 2.6 1 1.9 2.4 



Rented or used for farming. .. . 3.3 15.0 10.0 12.8 10.5 



Watersheds 27.7 



Borderline farms 9 11.0 5.6 9.9 3.5 



