Rural Economy in New England 293 



the area afifected by the largest market in southern New England 

 extended only some fifteen or twenty miles from the city. A con- 

 sideration of the transportation system of the time in a later section^ 

 will make even clearer that the fringe of commercial towns on the 

 seacoast must have depended for its agricultural products upon 

 farmers in towns adjoining, or only a few miles distant. Some ex- 

 ception must, of course, be made in favor of towns located on navi- 

 gable rivers such as the Connecticut, the Thames, the Housatonic and 

 the Merrimac; but in general the market in commercial towns can 

 scarcely be said to have had any influence on the prosperity of the 

 population or on agricultural methods in the inland region. 



iSee Chapter IV. 



