CLEARING AND IMPROVEMENT OF FARM LAND 

 IN MASSACHUSETTS 



By Charles R. Creek, Assistant Research Professor of Farm Management, 

 Joseph F. Hauck' and Virgil L. Hurlburt^ 



INTRODUCTION 



Since 1940 an increasing number of Massachusetts farmers have made use of 

 heavy equipment to improve farm lands. Power machines, such as the bulldozer 

 and the gas shovel, have made possible the completion of tasks that were im- 

 possible with hand tools and the usual farm machinery. In most instances 

 improvement work has been limited to a few acres on an established farm, but in 

 a few cases whole farms have been developed on land that had been abandoned 

 for many years. By land reclamation the acreage of cropland, orchard, pasture, 

 and poultry range has been increased, fields have been enlarged, and obstructions 

 that have interfered with intensive use of land have been removed. In addition, 

 drainage of lowlands has increased the acreage of crop and pasture land. 



Some of the land improvement work in recent years has been done at high cost 

 per acre. However, tasks that formerly were costly in terms of human labor 

 now often require only a few hours with power equipment. Savings in time and 

 man labor have paid for use of ihe machiner\'. The increase in land improve- 

 ment activity raises many questions in the minds of farmers and of farm leaders. 

 On what kinds of land will improvement work pay for itself? What are the least 

 expensive and the most effective methods? What other possibilities are there of 

 increasing the size and the operating efficiency of a farm? What factors must be 

 considered by the landowner in deciding whether or not to undertake the par- 

 ticular task of clearing? Is it sound agricultural policy to encourage farm land 

 improvement when in the same community other farm lands are going out of 

 agricultural use? 



During the summer of 1945 and early in 1946 a number of farmers who had 

 made land improvements were interviewed. Data were obtained on the kinds 

 and amounts of work performed, the time and the charges for heavy equipment, 

 the costs of the job, and past and intended use of the land. The owners or 

 operators of bulldozers and power shovels who were doing the work, by the job 

 or at a specified rate per hour, were also interviewed. The summarization and 

 presentation of these data may serve as guides to other land owners who are 

 contemplating land improvement work. 



In this study attention has been devoted to use of heavy equipment and power 

 machinery which is not usually found on the farm. The physical methods of 

 land improvement^ have been appraised generally in the course of the study and 

 attention necessarily has been devoted to engineering problems. However, 

 interest and analysis have been concentrated upon the economic significance of 

 this work. The primary purposes behind the study as a whole have been to 

 appraise the methods used in farm land improvement, to examine the results in 



'Formerly Agricultural Economist in the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. United States 

 Department of Agriculture; now with the New Jersey Extension Service. 



^Agricultural Economist in the Buieau of Agricultural Economics, United States Department 

 of Agriculture. 



*The terms "land improvement," "land reclamation," and ''land clearing" are used in this 

 report to denote methods used and types of activity. 



