EAST OF THE , MISSISSIPPI RIVER. 35 



men in every towne doe consider the condition and capacity of every family, and 

 accordingly to assess them, as one or more spinners. And because severall families 

 are necessarily employed the greatest part of their time in other business, yet if op- 

 portunities were attended some time might be spared, at least by some of them, for 

 this work, the said selectmen shall therefore assess such families at half or quarter 

 of a spinner, according to their capacities. And that every one thus assessed for a 

 Avhole spinner doe, after this present year, 1656, spin for 30 weeks every yeare, 3 

 pounds per week of linsey, cotton, or wooliug, and so proportionately for half or 

 quarter spinners, under the penalty of 12d. for every pound short; and that the 

 selectmen shall take special care for the execution of this order. And the selectmen 

 in all the townes within this jurisdiction shall have power to make such orders in 

 their respective townes for the clearing of commons for keeping of sheep, as also for 

 the time of putting rams to their flocks, as they shall judge meet; and it is hereby 

 ordered that the deputies of the several townes impart the mind of this court to 

 their inhabitants concerning the sowing of seeds, both of hemp and flax. 



In this same year of 1656 the first weaver to settle and commence 

 weaving at Lowell was encouraged to do so by a grant of 30 acres of 

 land. The orders made by the general court and increased attention to 

 the sheep caused a gratifying multiplication in the flocks, and in 1658 

 John Josslyn, in his voyages, says that in the town of Blackpoint alone 

 there were 700 or 800 sheep ; and John Winthrop, writing in 1660, says : 

 " This country also is now well stocked with horses, cowes, sheepe, and 

 goates." By 1662 the increase had been so great and the consequent 

 supply of wool so full that sheep declined in value to one-fourth of what 

 they formerly were held at, and the general court reduced the tax upon 

 them, as shown in this order: 



Whereas, in the lawe, sheepe are to be assessed at twenty -five shillings a head, and 

 that they are now fallen to about a fourth part of the price they were ordinarily sold 

 for, whereby many are discouraged for keeping such useful creatures, it is therefore 

 ordered by this court and the authority thereof that henceforth the rate for sheepe 

 shall be at ten shillings a head. 



The increase of sheep in Massachusetts and other New England colo- 

 nies did not escape the jealous eyes of the English traders, and the coun- 

 cil for foreign plantations made complaint that the trade of New England 

 was in 



no way managed to the advantage of His Majesty's Crown. They pretend an ex- 

 emption to the payment of customs, and importing very little to the balance of their 

 exportation ; that contrary to the policies and restrictions heretofore observed they 

 have increased a stock of sheep to nearly one hundred thousand, whereby this nation 

 and the manufactures thereof are become less necessary to them; but they are likely 

 to be so stored with wool that the Dutch, who trade freely with them, may supply 

 themselves from thence. 



Those who had a few sheep kept them on their home lots and about 

 the villages until the number was so much increased that the owners 

 could cooperate and pay a shepherd. All this was looked to by the 

 towns, and certain tracts were laid out and devoted to the pasturage of 

 the cattle in common herds, and rules laid down from time to time regu- 



