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excellent building materials ; but there are no extensive tracts 

 of soil which come mider that denomination. Clay soils are 

 found in the neighborhood of the great estuaries, and on the 

 banks of the Merrimack. In the centre of the county and in 

 some other parts are extensive tracts of sandy soil. There are 

 very large tracts of fresh-water marshes, the drainage of many of 

 which is now rendered impossible by the dams of the manufac- 

 turing establishments. Bog and peat meadows are frequent and 

 extensive throughout the county, furnishing large supplies of 

 fuel, and many of them, under highly skilful improvements, 

 transformed into most productive meadows for vegetables and 

 grass. The soil of the county, considered as a whole, must be 

 pronounced hard and unproductive. The abundant and profit- 

 able crops which are gathered from it — and in many instances 

 the agriculture of the county for its success and returns is not 

 surpassed in the State or country — are the result of distinguished 

 skill and well-applied and indefatigable labor. 



V. Pursuits of the Inhabitants. — The pursuits of the i 

 inhabitants are various, and trade and manufactures greatly pre- 

 dominate over the agricultural interest. Property to a vast 

 amount is invested in the different manufacturing establishments, 

 and especially at Lowell and Waltham. Many persons engaged 

 in trade and commerce in the capital have their residences in 

 the vicinity in this county ; and though in general their occu- 

 pations are on a small scale, yet their means give them the pow- 

 er of free expenditure and their establishments do much to im- 

 prove and adorn the country. The capital, with the large towns' 

 in its vicinity and the several villages and manufacturing towns 

 in the interior, afford a ready and quick market for all the prod- 

 ucts of agriculture. This condition determines in a great meas- 

 ure the character of the agriculture of the county — which is 

 confined rather to the production of vegetables, fruits, butter, 

 and articles that find an immediate sale in the towns, than to 

 products on a large scale, to be sold in great quantities or con- 

 sumed upon the farm. Large amounts of hay are produced in 



