n MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 430 



Public ownership thus has more than a quarter of the total town area of 26,304 

 acres. Much of the land in public ownership is of a type suitable for agricultural 

 development. 



The public acquisition of large areas of land, especially if they are not all in 

 one section of the town but are scattered, ordinarily affects the rural community 

 in two respects. First, it reduces the total receipts of taxation. In Hubbardston 

 so far this is not an important factor, inasmuch as the Metropolitan Water 

 Commission continues to pay the amounts collected from former ownership, 

 although livestock taxation receipts are not included in payments. Second, it 

 disturbs the economic set-up of the town. If there are, for instance, several dairy 

 farms in a particular section, the inclusion of one-half or more of them in public 

 ownership precludes those remaining from shipping their milk to the markets 

 efficiently. If there were formerly six farmers on the road, the truck could collect 

 the milk of all of them at a reasonable cost. If there are only two farmers left at 

 a great distance from the center, they can not very well command the same 

 services at a reasonable cost. To a considerable extent that has been the situa- 

 tion in Hubbardston. In addition, the Metropolitan Water Commission has 

 imposed restrictions on the use of land for livestock in the farm areas adjoining 

 the reservations. 



The presence of large areas of good land on existing farms allows for consider- 

 able readjustment of their land resources. Continued purchases of farm land 

 and restrictions on its use by the Metropolitan Water Commission are likely to 

 lead to a further decline in farming, at least as far as dairying is concerned. 



The situation in Hubbardston is similar to that of a good many other rural 

 towns in the State where, in spite of favorable land conditions, the agricultural 

 area has to be contracted in order to give place to certain public and semi-public 

 land uses which come into prominence with increased density of population. 

 In the interest of a balanced economy for these rural towns and also of the proper 

 utilization of the agricultural resources of the State, the facts obtained in this 

 investigation suggest the necessity of giving greater consideration to the proper 

 balance of local communities in extending land control for public purposes. 



Relocation of the Isolated Settlement in Rural Areas 



The utilization of undeveloped land areas suitable for agriculture, in addition 

 to bringing about an improved situation in existing farming units, should serve 

 also as a means of reducing the number of isolated farms found in various parts 

 of the State. Most of these are located on semi-abandoned roads and at a distance 

 from available public facilities. The provision of social services, such as schools, 

 roads, and health and fire protection, even in a limited way, represents a real 

 drain on the town's resources, sometimes rendering the operation of local farms 

 unprofitable because of exceedingly high local taxes. Wherever such conditions 

 exist, it may prove of great benefit to the whole community to make some ar- 

 rangement for the relocation of isolated units on land in more favorable areas. 

 In many cases this could be efficiently carried out by drawing upon favorably 

 located undeveloped land areas with satisfactory soil qualifications. Such an 

 undertaking will be fully justified if the cost of clearing, drainage, and other 

 similar improvements is not excessive in relation to the new facilities in land 

 utilization brought into existence. The series of town maps worked out by the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station makes the identification of 

 isolated farms in rural areas a task not too difficult to accomplish. 



