June, 1937] 



Land Utilization in New Hampshire 



49 



Four of tliese larger farms liad over 100 slieep, indicating a quick 

 response to the slieep development. In this group one farm with 15 

 cattle and 189 sheep and one with four cattle and 239 sheep show a 

 contrast in the competition between cattle and sheep. Two farms with 

 15 cattle each had small flocks of 25 and 83 sheep. The development in 

 Groton followed a similar course. 



It is suggested by several writers that lands were cleared rapidly for 

 pasture between 1830 and 1840 and also that clearings on the few 

 abandoned farms were pastured. At the very peak of livestock popula- 

 tion probably the pastures were over-grazed. The farmers were util- 

 izing the flush period that exists for the few years when the fertility in 

 the forest humus is first set free. 



Reduced pasturage and the falling prices of wool lowered sheep 

 numbers. Some operators went out of sheep quickly, and others main- 

 tained large flocks even as late as 1890. Evidently individuals, in the 

 light of their peculiar resources, farms, skills, and interests, reacted dif- 

 ferently to the changing economic situation. 



At various periods in the last hundred years opportunity for labor 

 off the farm has had an influence on the agriculture of the area. For 

 instance, in Dorchester along the Mascoma River, an area now com- 

 pletely abandoned, four mills were operating before 1860. No doubt 

 people from local farms had a part in harvesting and milling of timber 

 resources. This local timber industry probably began about 1830 and 



Fig. 8. Livestock production was at its peak in Dorchester from about 1840 

 to 1860. Cattle numbers held fairly constant from 1830 until about 1890. 

 The rapid rise and fall of the sheep industry resulted in an expanded animal 

 industry in the two decades preceding 1860. (Cattle over 18 months and 

 sheep over 6 months were listed on the town inventories,) 



