Download or read book The Great Meadow written by Brian Donahue and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Employing precise geographical information system (GIS) mapping of land ownership and land use, Donahue describes how the land was settled and how mixed husbandry was developed in Concord. By reconstructing several farm neighborhoods and following them through many generations, he reveals a diverse sustainable farming system of tillage, orchards, pastures, hay meadows, and woodlots that required careful management of soil and water. Donahue concludes that ecological degradation came to Concord only later, when nineteenth-century economic and social forces undercut the environmental balance that earlier colonial farmers had nurtured."--BOOK JACKET.