436 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



FACTS FROM THE CENSUS. 



HE taking of 

 the census, 

 •which is now 

 going on, is 

 revealing 

 some facts in 

 regard to the 

 ^business and 

 population of 

 New England 

 which seem 

 considerably 

 to surprise 

 some of our 

 people. By 

 this census, the fact is made apparent that the 

 population of a considerable number of the agri- 

 cultural towns in New England has decreased 

 since the taking of the last census, in 1850. This 

 fact will be considered by some without connec- 

 tion with other facts, and will be taken as evi- 

 dence of decay, and that farming is not a profita- 

 ble employment. 



When the full returns of these towns are before 

 us, so that we can see whether the decrease of 

 population is followed by a corresponding decrease 

 of agricultural products and taxation in the town, 

 we sha!l examine them with interest, and hope to 

 turn to the subject again. In some cases, the val- 

 uation of the town will undoubtedly become less 

 with the depreciation in the population — but they 

 will be those rocky and mountainous regions that 

 never ought to be used for any thing but the for- 

 ests which they produce, and the pasturage which 

 may be made to succeed them by burning the 

 refuse wood after the timber is taken away. 



After taking off the timber from a township of 

 land, and manufacturing it into valuable articles 

 for domestic or foreign uses, and then cropping 

 the same soil several years with rye, or depastur- 

 ing it with herds of cattle or flocks of sheep, the 

 leaving it to grow up to forest again is no evi- 

 dence to us that the people who have occupied it 

 have lost their energies, or are any the less thrifty 

 than those of other towns who still remain and 

 cultivate the soil. Let it alone, and the earth 

 will recuperate itself, so that many a young man, 

 who now leaves only barren hills, will live to re- 

 turn and find them clothed with an ample crop of 

 timber from which he may carve out a fortune. It 

 would be an evidence of bad judgment and un- 

 thrift, if they should remain upon the barren hills 

 and attempt their cultivation, when there is an 

 abundance of land richer in fertilizing agents and 

 so much more easily wrought. 



A writer in the Boston Journal, dating at War- 

 ren, N. H., in the valley of Baker's River, makes 



some statements in point. His letters are quite 

 interesting. He says the population of the town 

 of Warren has increased 322 since 1850, but gives 

 as a local cause, the existence of a copper and 

 lead mine in the eastern part of the town, which 

 continues to be successfully worked. The land is 

 favorable for grazing, so that large quantities of 

 butter and cheese are made, and "more maple su- 

 gar is made here than in any other town in the 

 State, the amount last spring having been eighty- 

 five thousand pounds!" 



The population of Wentworth has decreased, 

 which the writer ascribes to a local cause — there 

 has also been a decrease in the towns of Orford, 

 Dorchester and Lyme. The writer adds, "it is 

 probable that the census of nearly all the purely 

 agricultural communities in New Hampshire will 

 show a falling off" in population during the last 

 ten years, the gain, if there has been any, having 

 been in the manufacturing places." Although the 

 population in the town of Lyme has decreased, its 

 wealth has increased. The letter referred to, 

 states that it is one of the richest agricultural 

 communities in the State, and probably has more 

 sheep than any other, the number now owned in 

 the town being from twelve to thirteen thousand. 

 The production of wool this year is estimated in 

 value at $25,000. The farmers raise all the wheat 

 which is used in the town. We doubt whether 

 there is another town in New England which can 

 say the same. 



These remarks sustain the views we entertain, 

 and have more than once expressed, in regard to 

 the depreciation of population in our rural towns 

 being an evidence of the unprofitableness of farm- 

 ing as an occupation. We find in these instances 

 that where the land is in a favorable position, and 

 the soil is fertile and of easy cultivation, the la- 

 bor of the husbandman is abundantly rewarded. 

 The township of Lyme lies on one bank of the 

 Connecticut river, and a considerable portion of 

 the land is rich, and may be cultivated with ease. 

 The town of Dorchester lies upon the hills, and 

 quite likely a considerable portion of it which is 

 devoted to farm purposes would be found more 

 profitable in the end if it were left to go back to 

 forest again. A portion of the township of Or- 

 ford lies on the same river, but if we mistake not, 

 a much larger portion upon the hills. 



The reason, then, of this depreciation of popu- 

 lation in the rural towns, whatever else it may be, 

 is not that the farmers of New England manage 

 their business with less interest or skill than 

 formerly, or that the occupation itself receives 

 less consideration, but that it springs from nat- 

 ural causes : 



1. That, aided by a better knowledge of the Art 

 of Husbandry, and by better varieties of 



