Rural Economy in New England 279 



this improvement was limited to a narrow area, perhaps within a 20- 

 mile radius from the city, and at times towns well within this limit 

 were found to be in a backward condition. For instance, a writer 

 says of Needham: "The town in general would admit of more settle- 

 ments. Much of the land is yet uncultivated; and perhaps a third 

 more inhabitants than the present number might be supported by a 

 more extensive cultivation of the soil."^ And yet this town was only 

 13 miles distant from the city and had the advantage of water trans- 

 port on the Charles River.- The influence of the market in concen- 

 trating population in the towns in the immediate vicinity is 

 noticeable.^ 



In 1810, Salem was the sixth commercial city in the United States 

 and was said to have a per capita wealth larger than that of any 

 other city. Its population was over 12,600. Its imports averaged 

 $3,000,000 for the years 1801-1810 and it had 40,000 tons of shipping. 

 Besides the Asiatic trade which made this port famous, its fleet 

 engaged in the trade to the West Indies and in the fisheries.^ The 

 prosperity of this city was reflected in the large population of its 

 agricultural neighbors, the towns of Danvers and Beverly.'' 



Newburyport sustained a population of over 7,600 on exactly 

 one square mile of land, by means of its extensive commerce and 

 its fishing, ship-building and rum-distilling industries. It had 160 

 vessels in the European and West India trade and 54 more in the 

 Banks fisheries. The latter alone carried crews aggregating nearly 

 500 men.'' The rural town which benefited by this market was 

 Newbury, a few miles farther up on the Merrimac River. It had 

 practically no village settlement and, aside from a few fishing enter- 

 prises, its inhabitants were all engaged in farming. They culti- 



iMass. Hist. Soc. Coll., II. 1:180. 



* Water transportation brought a region at a much greater distance within 

 reach of the Boston market. This was Barnstable County which sent onions, 

 flaxseed, corn and firewood thither. A fleet of 30 coasting vessels was said to 

 have been regularly employed in carrying the latter product alone at this time. 

 Mass. Hist. Coll. I. 3:14. 



» Roxbury, 2,765; Dedham; 2,172; Dorchester, 2,930; Cambridge, 2,323. These 

 were all towns of relatively small area. 



* Sources for Salem are Morse, Gazetteer, 1810; Dwight, Travels, I. 408, 412. 

 La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt estimated the fleet belonging to this port at 150 

 vessels, of which 100 were in foreign trade, 20 in the coasting trade, and 30 in the 

 fisheries (ca. 1796). Travels, I. 474^75. 



6 Populations 3,127 and 4,609 respectively in 1810. 



* These facts are from Morse, Gazetteer, 1810; Dwight, Travels, I. 400-401; 

 Chastellux, Travels, II. 249; and Kendall, Travels, II. 29. 



