POSTWAR READJUSTMENTS IN AGRICULTURE 17 



The Town of Uxbridge 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION 



The town of Uxbridge in its land utilization possibilities is in many respects 

 similar to Southwick. There are, however, some differences in the general make- 

 up of the towns. Unlike Southwick, Uxbridge is predominantly an industrial 

 community, with agriculture occupying an important place. As in most of the 

 other towns of the State, the number of farms and the land in farms has declined 

 since the end of the last century. According to the State Census of 1875, with a 

 somewhat different definition of a farm from the present Federal Census classi- 

 fication, there were 224 farms. In 1940 there were only 156 farms. Of these, at 

 least one-half were part-time farms and rural residences. Because of the in- 

 dustrial factor in the town, part-time farming is generally at a high point of 

 development. The decline in the land area in farms in U.xbridge since 1875 

 amounted to almost 40 percent. In spite of this the volume of agricultural pro- 

 duction has remained on about the same level, and has been even higher in some 

 lines. On dairy farms, which are of major importance in local agriculture, the 

 number of cows was about the same in 1940 as in 1880, the figures being 578 and 

 574 respectively. The total output of dairy products, however, is now consider- 

 ably higher because of higher yields per cow. The number of fowls showed con- 

 siderable expansion, in accordance with the general trend in the State in this line 

 of agricultural activity. There were 6,799 hens assessed in 1940 compared with 

 2,365 in 1895. The cultivated land declined from 4,381 acres in 1875 to 2,895 

 acres in 1940. 



Comparison of the present make-up of the town with old maps indicating the 

 areas of occupancy, reveals that there has been a shift in land utilization-. 

 Over a period of time there has been a general migration from the south- 

 western part of the town towards the northwestern section. 



The population trend in Uxbridge has been definitely upward, largely as the 

 result of industrial activity. From 3,111 in 1880, the population increased to 

 6,417 in 1940. This situation has been responsible for a good demand for agri- 

 cultural products, so that the major portion of the local output is marketed within 

 the town. 



SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION OF LAND OWNERSHIP 



. In the town of Uxbridge the tracts of three acres or more without buildings 

 were distributed in 367 ownei.-^liips, this number being almost twice as high as 

 in the town of Southwick. '1 he majority of the holdings are small, however, 

 with 163 of them less than 10 acres. There were only 16 holdings of 50 acres 

 or more. 



The multiplicit)' of small holdings indicates that the most favorable conditions 

 for utilization of this land would be again in the enlargement of existing farms. 

 To form a new farming unit out of several tracts would in most cases involve the 

 difficulty of finding them together in one convenient location. The most im- 

 portant handicap, however, would be the acquisition of ownership from a num- 

 ber of present holders, some of whom may be reluctant to sell. In addition, the 

 question of boundaries of individual tracts in the rural areas of the State is often 

 confused, making the transfer of ownership difficult. The total number of tracts 

 of 50 acres or more — the size which may be considered the lower limit for estab- 

 lishing the prevailing type of commercial farming — amounted to only 16 units. 



