that the boundaries of their fjirms are the same as those- 

 of their fathers, their grandfathers, back even to the 

 third and fourth generation. 



In the settlement of the country there were reasons 

 for this aggregation of land which do not now obtain- 

 New England men depended upon the forest for their 

 fuel and for their timber ; so that large portions of land 

 might well have been held to supply the fence, the firej. 

 and the building material. Still, it will be seen that in 

 most of the farms, even, that reason did not obtain, for a 

 most eager desire was manifested for clearing the land — 

 avarice, apparently, prompting the owner to burn the 

 Avood and skim the cream from the virgin soil. It is 

 evident that a wish to preserve woodland for fuel, in the' 

 absence of coal and peat wdiich now supply so largely 

 the fuel of Massachusetts, did not deter our fathers fromi 

 cutting away the forest. Indeed, the early New England 

 farmer seemed to have two controlling ideas in the selec- 

 tion and management of his farm : first, to set his house 

 on the top of a hill so as to render access to it as difficult 

 as possible ; and, second, to cut off' all the wood upon 

 his land so as to render it as dismal and bare as possible.. 

 These results obtained, he became comfortable and thor- 

 oughly respectable. Statistics show that to-day there 

 are more acres of growing woodland in tlie Common- 

 wealth, although not as valuable, than there were in tho' 

 days of the Revolution. 



This aggregation of large quantities of land in one 

 hand has resulted in so poor tillage and so little produc- 

 tiveness — because of the inabilit}'' to till so much in a 

 proper manner — and has made farming so unprofitable, 

 that — taking the waste and barren pastures, the unim- 



