10 STATION BULLETIN 346 



The emphasis in this study, therefore, is on rural towns of less than 

 1,500 population although several towns having a population between 

 1.500 and 2,500 were visited. Aside from limiting the towns studied 

 to a certain range in population, no particular method of sampling was 

 used except that the total sample included not less than one-third of 

 all the rural towns in each of the 10 counties. Variance in local condi- 

 tions was considered prior to final selection within each county. Be- 

 cause of the lack of homogeneity in economic, physical, and social 

 conditions among the towns, the number included in the survey was 

 necessarily a large proportion of the state total. 



The survey involved an interview with one or more local ofificials, 

 including at least one selectman, in each of 116 towns during the sum- 

 mers of 1938 and 1939. A questionnaire was completed covering 

 some selected administrative practices and other related data not 

 available elsewhere. A copy of the town report was collected for later 

 analysis, but was reviewed with local assistance for explanation of 

 certain terms employed by officials in their individual reports. Ma- 

 terial concerned with tax delinquency was obtained from the registers 

 of deeds in the respective counties. 



Some Characteristics of the State 



New Hampshire is a small state. Its total land area is 9,031 

 square miles; only five states are smaller, namely Massachusetts, Con- 

 necticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Delaware. The population 

 of the state by census periods from 1790 to 1940 follows: 



With its present population of slightly less than one-half a mil- 

 lion, New Hampshire ranks forty-first among the 48 states, exceeding 

 in population only Vermont, Delaware, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mex- 

 ico, Arizona, and Nevada. However, only 22 states exceed New 

 Hampshire in population per square mile. The present density is 54.4 

 compared with 44.3 for the United States as a whole. 



Southern New Hampshire is a part of the urban area of New 

 England. Like most of the other northeastern states, during the in- 

 dustrial revolution southern New Hampshire experienced a concen- 

 tration of population in industrial centers. This movement is evi- 

 denced by the increase in total population accompanied by a rapid 

 decline in the number of farms and total acres of land in farms. The 

 largest amount of land was in farms in 1860 (Table 2). The decline 

 in farm acreage from 1900 to 1930 was consistent and rapid, with 

 land going out of use at the rate of 55.000 acres, or 480 farms, per 

 year. Of the total farm area in 1860, 48 percent was abandoned by 



