122 



or of manufactures has been made in this or any other 

 country. 



From tlie imperfect enumeration of 1810, I have select- 

 ed a few of the items most prominent and interesting in 

 Essex. Of sheep they had 1600. Looms 1436, and 

 spinning wheels without number, for it must be remem- 

 bered that every yard of cloth of every description was 

 woven on a hand loom in this and every other country, 

 for the power loom was not invented till about that time. 

 Of fur hats they made annually 27,500, worth two dollars 

 and nine pence each. Boston-made hats were 15.10. 

 They tanned, curried and dressed hides and skins to the 

 value of $290,000. 



Boots, shoes and slippers in number were 1,535,082 

 pairs at about 72 cents per pair, while Boston-made boots, 

 shoes and slippers were valued something over $5.50 per 

 pair. Saddlery in those days of horseback riding was 

 made to the amount of 121,000 in Essex. 



While there is no general enumeration of agricultural 

 productions, we find mention of individual operations show- 

 ing fine crops and great success in their farming. 



Of course in the conditions, as they were of the settle- 

 ment and subsequent progress of Essex County, much 

 greater activity and advance were made in the manufac- 

 tures than in its agriculture. Excellent crops were raised 

 there. Mr. Colman in his report, more than fifty years 

 ago, mentions crops of wheat, 32 bushels to the acre, In- 

 dian corn 115 and 117 bushels, potatoes 484-518 bushels, 

 carrots 900 bushels, onions 651 bushels ; from two acres 

 of land were sold $600 worth of winter squashes in 1837. 



Essex may also claim one or two specialties quite fa- 

 mous in their day. As Mr. Colman tells us, somewhere in 

 the thirties a farmer of Byfield, a parish of Newbury, found 

 in market a pig, of uncommonly ^fine points; by careful 

 breeding and selection he made what is called the Byfield 

 breed, which extended through this couutry, and was 

 known in England as a superior breed at that time. 



