i 



June, 1937] Land Utilization in New Hampshire 47 



crop yields were good. The trend of conditions in back areas is diffi- 

 cult to trace from this point on because many towns comprise intervale 

 lands that persisted in agricultural use as well as back uplands that 

 were abandoned. Total data or averages such as census reports fail to 

 describe either situation. Industrial developments in some of the vil- 

 lages resulted in rapid expansion of population and creation of mar- 

 kets which obscured the situation in other parts of the town/ 



In the earliest times the advantage in location was not great. Self- 

 sufficing agriculture and the work of clearing meant that most activities 

 were centered on the farm, and trips to market were infrequent. It 

 is said that the hills were settled and cleared first because the clearing 

 was easier and the location was preferred for safety. But as agri- 

 culture advanced to a stage where some operators were able to sell 

 products and as local centers in the valley became trading posts, the 

 location of the farm and the quality of the land became more important. 

 With the completion of the fourth New Hampshire turnpike from Bos- 

 cawen to Lebanon in 1804, and the Grafton turnpike from Andover to 

 Orford in 1811, the interior upland was placed at a disadvantage. The 

 extension of the railroads up the valleys on both sides of the area in the 

 period 1847 to 1853 gave the valley farms more satisfactory access to 

 the expanding markets in factory towns of Massachusetts. 



Later on. competition with the standard products of the developing 

 West brought hardship to the agriculture of the region, and technologi- 

 cal developments of agricultural production placed the hill farm with 

 small rocky fields at a tremendous disadvantage. 



A comparison of the location of roads and occupied places in 1860, 

 1892 and 1934 reveals the trend and location of abandonment. (Plate 

 7, p. 39) Only 289 of the 916 locations existing in 1860 were occupied 

 by year-round residents in 1934. Using the population-to-farm ratio in 

 Groton as a base, it is estimated that the population in the area was 

 approximately 4.700 in 1860 as compared to 883 in 1934. It is further 

 estimated that at the peak of the livestock population, the area sup- 

 ported 5,500 cattle over 18 months old and 21,068 sheep over six 

 months, as compared to 957 cattle and 167 sheep of similar ages in 

 1934.^ 



In surveying the forest cover in some detail in the town of Dorchester, 

 Mr. Carl Walker, by noting stone walls, tree growths, etc., was able to 

 map the areas of land which had been originally cleared in comparison 

 with present land-use. (Pig. 7) Most of the small scattered areas of 

 open land back from the road on the 1934 map are no longer used for 

 either tillage or pasture. These represent central portions of former 

 large fields or pastures which the timber has not as yet fully reclaimed. 

 This indicates 43 per cent open land about 1860 as compared to 13 per 

 cent in 1934. Forest growth is the natural climax in New England 



^ Edward N. Torbert, "The Evolution of Land Utilization in Lebanon, 

 New Hampshire," Geog:raphical Review, 25:209 (April, 1935). 



Harold F. Wilson, The Hill Country of Northern New England, Columbia 

 University Press (New York, 1936). 



^ These early inventories list cattle 18 months or older and sheep 6 months 

 and over. In the pasture season the total number of cattle and sheep would 

 be about double the inventory. 



