Cow-commons  
A unit of land based on the division into shares of land held in common by the inhabitants of Dedham, Massachusetts. Dedham proprietors were granted the land at Pocumtuck that became Deerfield, so Deerfield land was also divided into cow-commons. The shares were based "partly on the tax list and partly on the number of cattle running on the commons," according to Deerfield historian George Sheldon, who also says that "Fractions were reckoned by 'sheep and goat commons,' five of which equalled one 'cow common.'"

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