REPORT 



ON THE 



AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF MIDDLESEX. 



I. General Description. — Middlesex is one of the largest 

 and most populous counties in the State. On the east it is 

 bounded by Essex county and a portion of Suffolk ; on the 

 south, by Norfolk ; on the west, by Worcester county; and its 

 northern line is, throughout, contiguous to New Hampshire. 

 Its population in 1837 was 98,565, and to a square mile, 123. 

 It embraces forty-six towns, among which are the city of Low- 

 ell, and the large towns of Charlestown, Cambridge, Brighton, 

 Watertown, Waltham, Groton and Concord. It is watered in 

 different parts by several rivers, as the Merrimack, the Con- 

 cord, the Nashua, the Medford, and the Charles rivers ; and 

 Charlestown, Cambridge and Medford lie upon Charles and 

 Medford rivers, which are connected with and form a part of 

 Boston harbor. Medford, on Medford river, has long been cel- 

 ebrated for the building of ships, the hulls of which are, at 

 seasons of high water, got down, not without considerable 

 labor, into Boston harbor ; but excepting in such cases Medford 

 river is used but to a small extent for the purposes of naviga- 

 tion. Flat-bottomed boats sometimes proceed as far as Water- 

 town, on Charles river. Sloops and schooners, loaded with 

 lumber and lime, discharge at Cambridge ; and Charlestown, 

 below its bridges, affords some of the best anchorage in the 

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