121 



stage." Later, in 1658, May 19, is this queer statute, 

 "whereas there is a law respecting the regulating of 

 swine in all townships to prevent harmes done by them, 

 yett inasmuch as there is a necessitie of a more particular 

 order respecting such towns wherein great numbers of 

 swine are kept whereby many children are exposed to 

 g reat dangers of loss of life or limbe through ravenous- 

 ness of swine, and older persons to no small inconvenien- 

 ces, besides the sad consequences it may be of to the 

 whole country, in times of sickness through their infec- 

 tion, it is therefor ordered by this court and authoritie 

 thereof that the selectmen in the severall towns within 

 this jurisdiction shall henceforth have power to make 

 such orders in reference to swyne as may prevent all man- 

 ner of damage." 



Goats were brought in large numbers and before sheep, 

 but for what use I don't understand, for I see no mention 

 of them for their milk, for their skins, nor for food, with 

 one exception, in 3638, on the arrival of some ships, the 

 people of Salem made a great feast for them of "hogs, 

 kids, venison and store of poultry." John Joselyn in one 

 of his voyages, 1638, says, "they were the first small 

 cattle they had in the country, he was counted as nobody 

 who had not a trip or a flock of goats." In 1651, Mr. 

 Edward Johnson writes of Lynn, among other things, 

 "their cattell exceedingly multiplied, goates which attheir 

 first coming in great esteeme, are now almost quite ban- 

 ished and now horse, kine and sheepe are most in request 

 with them." 



These items will show the lead that Essex very early 

 took in the manufactures and somewhat in the agricul- 

 ture of the state from that time there was no census, no 

 continuous record of our agriculture or our manufactures 

 or commerce, till the very incomplete enumeration by 

 United States Marshal Cox in 1810. It is not till with- 

 in the past fifty years that any complete government 

 enumeration of animals, and productions of agriculture 



