146 



STATION BULLETIN 346 



capita are considerably higher than for towns which have more near- 

 ly maintained their population. Furthermore, town expenses are 

 high relative to the town inventory of taxable wealth, thus causing a 

 higher average tax rate than prevailed in the other groups. Approxi- 

 mately one-half of the total property tax was levied to meet town ex- 

 penses, whereas the other groups of towns consumed less than 42 

 percent of the total property tax. 



None of the 100 rural towns have lost as much as one-half of 

 their population since 1910. For the 18 towns which endured the 

 greatest loss in population since 1880, the greater part of this decline 

 occurred before 1900 (Chart III). From 1900 to 1930 the decline was 

 continuous but moderate, and from 1930 to 1940 there was a slight 

 rise in population per town. The trend of population in the 20 towns, 

 which had more people in 1940 than in 1880, is a matter of maintaining 

 their numbers rather than of extreme variation. The population per 

 town for these two groups of towns in 1880 was 946 and 1,093, re- 

 spectively, a small disparity. It would appear that the two trend 

 lines showm in Chart III represent the results of natural and economic 

 incidents, particularly location with respect to industrial centers, to- 

 pography, and natural fertility, rather than of large differences in 

 earlier decades. Thus it is not to be assumed that the towns Avhich 



POPULATION PER TOWN 



1400- 



1&&0 18^0 iqoo 



CEN5U5 YEAR 



iqio 1^20 1^12)0 iq4o 



Chart III. Comparison of the trend in population per town of 18 

 towns which had fewer than 50 percent as many people in 1880 as in 

 1940 with that of 20 towns which gained in population during this 

 period, by census years, 1880 to 1940. 



