…To Farm…

In 1733, the colonial settlers of Petersham traveled by boat up the Connecticut River, rather than from Boston on foot. Like the native people, the colonial settlers cleared the land for agriculture and used wood as material for homes, transport, and housewares but with the significant difference of forged iron tools and oxen.

Figure 3: Changes in land use in
Massachusetts from 1650- 1950.
Dark gray = Forest
Light gray = Pasture
White = Plowed
Black Line=People per Square Kilometer, read x-axis on right.
Source: Foster, David, Glenn Motzkin, and Benjamin Slater. "Land-Use History as Long-Term Broad-Scale Disturbance: Regional Forest Dynamics in Central New England." Ecosystems 1 (1998), p. 103.

Forests were cleared for homesteads, livestock pasture, and row crops. Tree trunks became log houses. Saw timber became barns. Worm fences were built to keep livestock corralled. (See figure 4.)

Figure 4: Worm Fence
A quick way to fence livestock was the worm fence. In order to avoid digging post holes, timbers were stacked atop each other in a zigzag pattern. These were poorly made, required a huge quantity of wood, were subject to rot, and had to be replaced every 6 to 8 years. Forest History Society photo

Wood heated colonial homes, cooked food, and fueled forges. Horse-drawn wagons or ox-carts were the primary transportation. In 1771, an inventory of land use in Petersham reported 845 acres of livestock pasture, 443 acres of crop tillage, 958 acres of mowing, and 256 acres of meadow. This total of 2,502 cleared acres represented about 12% of the town.
Following the American Revolution, new England entrepreneurs found that they could increase their personal wealth by creating surplus grain and livestock to sell at markets. Farm to market roads improved. More land was put into pasture and rows for crops. As the town grew, water-powered mills were built to grind grain from the farms and saw the lumber for the barns. As income was generated, banks developed and people were able to obtain loans to fund woolen mills, tanneries, and brickyards that consumed more wood for buildings and fuel. By 1830, 77% of the land in Petersham had been cleared and residents of the town of Petersham were prosperously selling meat, grains and produce to the growing cities of Boston and Providence.

Figure 5: Forest cover in central Mass in 1830.
green=forest
yellow=meadow
purple=rivers, streams
white=open land
Source: Foster, David, Glenn Motzkin, and Benjamin Slater. "Land-Use History as Long-Term Broad-Scale Disturbance: Regional Forest Dynamics in Central New England." Ecosystems 1 (1998), p. 105.

Unaware of how westward expansion would impact the Petersham economy, residents continued to clear more and more land for farming, producing food for the booming cities of Boston, Providence and New York.  But in 1850, Bostonians and New Yorkers found that boxcars of wheat, corn, and livestock from Chicago were cheaper than wagon loads from Petersham.   Petersham farmers went broke and were forced to abandon their land.  By 1870, at least half of the open land was no longer being farmed.  Weeds and white pine seedlings sprouted rapidly in the broken ground as forest succession began to reclaim the landscape.

Unaware of how westward expansion would impact the Petersham economy, residents continued to clear more and more land for farming, producing food for the booming cities of Boston, Providence and New York. But in 1850, Bostonians and New Yorkers found that boxcars of wheat, corn, and livestock from Chicago were cheaper than wagon loads from Petersham. Petersham farmers went broke and were forced to abandon their land. By 1870, at least half of the open land was no longer being farmed. Weeds and white pine seedlings sprouted rapidly in the broken ground as forest succession began to reclaim the landscape.