APPENDIX. xxiii 



from local markets, and without railroad accommodation, which do 

 not enjoy a large share of the great and active prosperity of the times, 

 there can be no doubt ; but that even they feel the stimulating influ- 

 ences of the bus}' community of which they form a part there is also 

 no doubt. They still live, waiting for a nearer approach of those 

 activities which surround them, and which have found a foothold with 

 their more fortunate neighbors. But the cases of decline, even in such 

 towns as those which are called purely agricultural, if an}' such exist 

 in Massachusetts, are the exception and not the rule. And while 

 there are a few towns which do rot sustain themselves, and where 

 neither the natural increase nor immigration is sufficient to keep up 

 the population, there are very many towns whose agricultural 

 wealth and population do increase, on account of their proximity to 

 the market and the energy of their agricultural communities. The 

 census of 1870 shows, not only that other towns than those devoted 

 to agriculture have decreased in population, but also that all such 

 towns have not decreased, and that the agricultural regions by no 

 means decay. The towns in Massachusetts which have decreased 

 in population since 1860 are all those in Barnstable County, except 

 Provincetown, 8 in Berkshire, 4 in Bristol, 9 in Essex, 15 in Franklin, 

 11 in Hampden, 12 in Hampshire, 15 in Middlesex, 2 in Norfolk, 15 

 in Plymouth, 23 in Worcester. Now, these towns are not all strictly 

 agricultural. The towns on Cape Cod whose population is gradually 

 decreasing have not a large farming interest, but are devoted princi- 

 pally to commerce and the fisheries, agriculture being in all of them 

 a matter of secondary consideration. Other towns have been reduced 

 by causes peculiar to themselves. Barre, for instance, was deprived 

 of a large manufacturing population just previous to the taking of 

 the census of 1870, by the destruction of its mills by a flood. The 

 changes in such towns as Bridgewater are due to the floating char- 

 acter of that population wliich is engaged in the mechanic arts. 

 Large numbers of the towns enumerated were reduced in population 

 by the war, which took place between the years 1860 and 1870? 

 many of their young men dying in the service, and many more find- 

 ing occupation elsewhere after joining the army. In most of the 

 remaining towns where a reduction has taken place, it has not been 

 sufficient to aff'ect the industry of agriculture or to reduce the amount 

 of the crops. In most instances the farms still hold their own, and 

 the farm-houses are in good condition. 



Leaving now the towns wh'ch are really laboring under adverse 

 circumstances, such as remoteness from market, and, perhaps a soil 

 not of the best quality, and turning to those in which agriculture 

 enjoys all the advantages which Massachusetts can bestow, we find 

 aflTairs so highly encouraging that they can be contemplated with 



