No. 4.] FORESTRY IN MASSACHUSETrS. 



47 



federal eensus, moreover, show «>;reat variations, owing no 

 doubt to dift'erenees in classification mainly. We can, how- 

 ever, upon the basis of the State census of 1885 and 1895 

 and of the federal census of 1880, 1890 and 1900, make 

 some pertinent broad deductions as to probable conditions at 

 present. 



Hardl}^ two-fifths of the acreage of the State has been 

 found fit for farming, — fields and pasture, — if we assume 

 that the area at present in farmers' hands represents fairly 

 the farming possibilities of the State. The other three- 

 fiftlLs are woodland, or waste land, nameh% about 3,000,000 

 acres.* 



It is interesting to note what changes seem to have 

 taken place in employment of the soil and in ownership. In 

 1885 the farmers were still credited by the State Bureau of 

 Statistics with round 1,389,000 acres of woodland in a total 

 farm area of 3,900,000 acres, which left the area outside of 

 farms 1,420,000 acres. It would appear that the then re- 

 ported area of permanent pastures was in 1895 reduced to a 

 round 1,120,000 acres, and the field area to 903,000 acres, — 

 a reduction of land used for farm purposes of over 175,000 



* The statistics in point may be stated as follows: The total area of the State 

 is 5,321,600 acres. The cultivated land, according to different authorities, is 

 between 900,000 and 1,300,000 acres. Permanent pastures are reported in 1895 as 

 1,119,000 acres, leaving for woodland, brush and waste (without making allow- 

 ance for city or town sites) round 3.000,000 acres, or nearly three-fifths of the 

 State. The figures given for 1875, 1885 and 1895 by the State Bureau of Statis- 

 tics, and for 1880, 1890 and 1900 by the federal census, t>laced side by side, are as 



follows : — 



[Amounts are In thousand acres.] 



1875. 



1880. 



1885. 



1890. 



1895. 



1900. 



Total farm area, .... 



Cultivated (improved) , 



Permanent pasture, . 



Other unimproved and waste. 



Woodland 



(Planted) 



Unclassified (mostly non-resi- 

 dent woodland). 



Land outside of farms (wood- 

 land and waste) , . . . 



3,402 

 913a 



1,4256 

 89 

 930c 



1,920 



3,360 

 2,130 



1.2.'?0 



1.962 



3,898 

 939 



1,260 

 310 



1,.'?89 

 (5 9) 



1,424 



3,000 

 1,660 



1,340 



2,322 



3,848 

 903 



1,119 

 200 



l,461f7 

 (10.23) 



164 



1,474 



3,160 

 1,290 



1,850 



2,173 



a Includes city lots, 37.8. 



b Unimproved not specified. 



c Includes city woodlands, 23.8. 



d Over 300,000 acres owned in lots unattached to farms. 



