NATURAL HISTORY. 
21 
parish, was in 1821, 2,429, and in 1831, 2,998, thus 
affording an increase in ten years of 23 per cent in 
the number of the inhabitants. 
It would be interesting to pursue this subject 
further, and to shew the causes which have checked 
the increase of population in the agricultural districts 
of the county, whilst the manufacturing districts 
have gone on so rapidly augmenting their population. 
This, however, would lead me into details foreign to 
my present purpose ; and I shall therefore content 
myself with observing that the practice of considerably 
increasing the size of the farms let to agriculturists, 
has manifestly tended rather to diminish the number 
of persons employed in the cultivation of the land. 
Having given the above short statistical details 
respecting the county of Worcester, I shall enter 
more fully into an investigation of those circumstan- 
ces which have operated on the population of the 
city and suburbs of Worcester. This seems particu- 
larly desirable, as at least one eighth part of the 
people of the county inhabit the city and suburbs 
of Worcester. It appears that the increase of popu- 
lation within the last ten years, as shewn by the 
foregoing table, has been very small in the city, but 
very great in its suburbs. 
The trade of Worcester has^ for many years, been 
considerable, and has given employment to a nume- 
rous population. This trade arises not only from 
the surplus produce of the county and its own manu- 
factures, but also from the great conveniences of an 
extended water carriage. 
