114 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



have decreased nearly fifty per cent from 1860 to 1870, of 

 which we shall have something to say farther on. 



To bring these statistics home to our own State : in 1840 

 we had thirty-eight neat-cattle to every hundred people ; in 

 1850, twenty-six; in 1870, fifteen; and, in 1875, fourteen. 

 Thus we find Massachusetts produces but about one-sixth of 

 the beef, milk, butter, and cheese consumed within her borders ; 

 and it is no wonder that the trains from the north, east, and 

 west, are burdened with stock-cars for our markets. This 

 large decrease in the proportion of cattle to people is not so 

 much owing, however, to the decrease of cattle as to the 

 ' increase of population ; for while, for twentj^-five years, the 

 neat cattle show a comparatively small decrease, the popula- 

 tion has nearly doubled. The total decrease of neat-stock 

 in this State from 1850 to 1875 amounts to thirty-five thou- 

 sand head out of a total of two hundred and sixty thousand; 

 and it is noteworthy, that, of this decrease of thirty-five 

 thousand, thirty thousand three hundred are from the class 

 of working-oxen alone. 



To come into our own county : we find sixty-four neat- 

 cattle to every hundred inhabitants, — a deficiency equal to 

 one-fifth of the number required to supply the demand within 

 the county. To show that we are at fault in the matter of 

 the production of neat-stock, it may be stated, that, in agri- 

 culture, Franklin County is just about on a par with the 

 average of the entire country. We have engaged as farmers 

 and farm-laborers fifteen and one-third per cent of our popu- 

 lation ; and in the United States this class comprises sixteen 

 and two-thirds per cent. Of our neat-cattle, five are working- 

 oxen, thirty-one cows, and twenty-eight other cattle ; from 

 which we infer that we produce in the aggregate a surplus 

 of milk, butter, and cheese equal to one-eighth of our entire 

 product, while we produce only four-fifths of the beef con- 

 sumed within the county. To go back no farther than 

 1870 : we find in 1875 our working-oxen had decreased 

 during the five years thirty-five per cent, our sheep had 

 decreased thirty per cent, our other cattle about one-half the 

 same rate, while milch cows alone show an increase of fifteen 

 per cent. If we had space, we might follow these statistics 

 to their natural and inevitable result, and we should find, 

 as is the fact, that, for the same period, there has been a 



