It is impossible to determine from the Register the size of these estab- 

 lishments and the suspicion is that they range from one-man operations to 

 organizations employing several hundred. As such they are simply indi- 

 cators of the general type of employment in the different samples of towns. 

 It is noteworthy that those establishments handling agricultural products 

 are located in the increasing towns and have been increasing in number 

 since 1921. While the number of manufacturing establishments has re- 

 mained fairly constant in the sample of increasing towns, there has been 

 wide fluctuation of this type of activity in the sample of decreasing towns. 

 At the same time, the number of retail stores handling non-staple items 

 increased markedly in the sample of decreasing towns with a concurrent 

 increase in the number of personal service establishments in these same 

 towns. 



From these data, even making allowance for their limited information, 

 it appears that the decreasing towns are those catering to the recreation 

 industry, while these small increasing towns are more closely allied with 



agriculture. 



In order to attempt the measurement of the relative weight of industry 

 in the economy of these samples of towns, data relating to number of 

 firms and total annual payrolls were secured from the New Hampshire 

 Division of Employment Security. 



These data do not include all possible industry, but only those employing 

 five or more persons twenty or more weeks per year. The coverage is 

 approximately 95 percent for manufacturers and between two-thirds and 

 three-fourths of non-manufacturers. In order that no identification of specific 



Table 9. Index of Industrial Activity 



Firms EmployirLg Five or More Persons Twenty or More Weeks Per Year 1949-1950 

 Towns All Industry Manufacturing Non-Manufacturing Payroll Index 



Source: New Hampshire State Division of Employment Security. 



15 



