26 



EXPERIMENT STATION RULLETIN 34-1 



home garden (Table 5). The summer resident who was carrying on 

 the greatest amount of farming had only a half-man enterprise. One of 

 the largest farms in the three towns was owned by a summer resident, but 

 it was operated as a commercial venture and was distinct from the vaca- 

 tion home; hence it was classified separately as a commercial farm. 



Table 6. Distribution of summer home properties 

 by type of conservation practice followed 



Type of practice 



Number 



Per cent 



Water- 

 front 



Open 

 country 



Water- 

 front 



Open 



country 



None 



Setting out trees 

 Reseeding fields 

 Woodland management 

 Fertilizer application 

 Combinations of above 



Total 



120 



152 



97 



> 



100 



85 

 6 

 5 

 2 



1 

 1 



100 



There was a direct relationship between the size of summer home 

 property and the extent of farming. Professional, big business, and re- 

 tired owners reported more agricultural production and conservation 

 practices than did lower income groups, who were handicapped by limi- 

 tations of time and money. The personal care of crops is possible only 

 with long and flexible vacation periods, the care of livestock necessitates 

 the hire of a year-round caretaker, and most conservation practices in- 

 volve recurrent expenditures of time and money. 



Although summer residents have not prevented the reversion to 

 forest cover, neither have they caused it. As will be indicated later, 

 attention to the physical productivity of land had been abandoned by 

 owners in most cases long before the transfer to summer use. In some 

 instances, summer residents have delayed the reversion through land 

 management practices on restricted areas. The general pattern, however, 

 has been in accordance with the trend of land cover in northern New 

 England for nearly a generation. 



Purchase and Improvement of Summer Home Properties 



Diverse types of properties have been acquired for summer home 

 use. Summer residents in general have followed on the heels of a de- 

 clining agriculture and have not displaced aggressive farm operators. 

 Idle land and habitable dwellings which were either abandoned or on the 

 road to abandonment have formed the bulk of summer home purchases. 

 Expenditures for construction and improvements have restored buildings 

 and saved many from collapse. 



Prior Use and Circumstances of Sale 



Nearly one-third of the properties visited had been used as summer 

 homes bv previous owners. The present owners were unable to furnish 

 information about the use of the properties before they were bought for 



