162 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



neat cattle to every 100 inhabitants ; that of 1850, that she had 

 26 ; and that of 1860, that the number had diminished to 22, 

 for every 100 inhabitants, instead of 80, which would be the 

 number just sufficient for home consumption. 



The other great law established is, that cattle are moved to the 

 eastward and capital to the ivestward, to supply the increasing 

 demands of the deficient sections. 



The distribution of cattle in the United States, in 1840, divided 

 into three classes, was as follows, viz. : — in that section of the 

 United States east of Chesapeake Bay, the Potomac River, and 

 the western boundary of Pennsylvania, there were less than 80 

 neat cattle to every 100 inhabitants. Tliis may be called the 

 minmmm district. 



In the district composed of the States of Ohio, North Carolina, 

 Virginia, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin, 

 and New Hampshire, there are from 80 to 100 neat cattle to 

 every hundred inhabitants. This may be called the medium 

 district. 



In the district including the remaining States there are more 

 than 100 cattle to every 100 inhabitants. This may be called 

 the maximum district. 



The general law of distribution is thus plainly shown, in 1840. 

 Beginning on the eastern limit, cattle are found in small num- 

 bers and go on constantly increasing, until we find the West has 

 three times as many cattle as the East, the smallest ratio being 

 in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and the largest, nearly six 

 times as great, being in Florida and Arkansas. 



During the next decade, ending in 1850, we find the bounda- 

 ries of our three classes much changed. The western limit of 

 the minimum class has moved far westward. Instead of the 

 terminus of the Potomac and the Monongahela, its western 

 boundary has been carried forward, so as to include North Car- 

 olina, Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, 

 Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In ten years the line of 

 minimum production has made a westward advance of at least 

 500 miles. 



Alabama and New Hampshire now alone constitute the 

 medium class. 



The maximum class, with the loss of Alabama, occupy the 

 same area as in 1840, but those States east of the Mississippi 



