392 
The following is a copy of the report 
relative to the population in the- prefent 
year: 66 inhabited houlfes, 70 families, 
three’ uninhabited houfes; 169 males, 
388 females ; 118 employed in agricul- 
ture, 13 in trades, 226 of other clafles— 
total 357. abi 3 
Males. Fem 
Under 2 yearsofage 6 - 16 
‘From 2to 5 PAM ae 
5—-10 zo = 18 
—- 10-20 32 =), 90 
m— 20-— 30 ———— 20 - ZI 
NG = pclae a AF MRT TyTN ee Mes oo 
—— 40 — 50 —————— 18 - 12 
ma $0 00 a — hl CG 
m——— 60 — 70 ——————— 12 - 22 
——— 70 — 80 mmm 10 - 2 
m— 80—90 Pa a ea 
There is one clergyman, who is the 
reftor of the parifh, and fchoolmafter ; 
but there is no furgeon nor attorney. 
There are alfo four weavers, three fhoe- 
makers, two carpenters, three blackfmiths, 
and one taylor. 
According to the report, therefore, re- 
fpecting the prefent population, it ap- 
pears, that there are, upon an average, 
515 pertons to every family. And, from 
confidering the different accounts that have 
been given of the population at different 
times, from 1687 to the prefent year, it 
would feem that, in the courfe. of 113 
years, the decreafe in.the number of-inha- 
bitants has amounted to 165 perfons in 
the whole, and that the annual reduction, 
upon an average, has been 1.46. The de- 
creafe in the population may very proba- 
bly have been occafioned by the extenfion 
of farming, by which fome very fmall 
Baptifms. | 
= 
Account of Afby, in the County of Wftmoreland. 4) Se 4, 
farms, each perhaps competent to the- 
maintenance and fupport of a family, have 
been confolidated into larger ones. This 
caufe appears to have operated more par- 
ticularly in the higher parts‘of the parifh, 
where the ground is. chiefly in-pafture, and 
where the number af inhabitants is evi- 
dently very few. He who occupies a farm 
larger than the reft of his neighbours will, 
no doubt, be enabled to afford more rent 
for his land, than what mazy families can 
poffibly pay for the fame extent of ground. - 
But the confolidation of farms, as it 
tends greatly to diminith the population of 
a country, and to render many dependent 
for fupport on the bounty and caprice of 
others, who might otherwife perhaps have 
earned for themfelves a decent fubfiftence, 
/ 
will, in length of time, prove injurious to | 
the value of property in general. 
Another caufe of depopulation may pro- 
bably be the modern improvements in agri- 
culture. Formerly it was thought neceflary 
to have four horfes for every plough, and 
that.a perfon fhould drive them. At pre- 
fent, two horfes are deemed fully adequate 
to the purpofe, and they are fo trained ‘as 
to plough equally well without a driver. 
It is poffible alfo that the fame might be 
inftanced in feveral other departments of 
hufbandry. © 
The following is an abftra& of the pa- 
rifh-regifter, and exhibits the number of _ 
baptifms, burials, and marriages, diftin- 
guifhing males from females, with the an- 
nual average of each, for every ten years, 
from 1657 to 1797, inclufive and exclu- 
five, and from thence to the commence- 
ment of the year 1801. aye 
Burials. Annual Average. 
Years. se SESS ea wl tle Rede ae 
m.| F. Total) M.| F [rota Bap. | Bur, | Mar. 
From 1657 to 1667 | 61 | 56 |ir7 | 34. | 39 | 73 11.7 | 7.3 2.7 
—— 1667 — 1677 | 52 | 60 {112 46 143 | 89 11.2 [3.9 4-3 
—— 1677 — 1687 | 48 | 30 | 78 137 1-46 | 83 To) |e 23- 
—— 1687 -— 1697 |43 |48 | 91 || 41 | 39 | 80 Q-E NB yee dg 
—— 1697 —17°7 147 |49 | 96 || 41 | 48 | 89 9-6 | 8.9 | 2.5 
Sr IO eT ie 9831 9S) | 85 88a oe 6.5, 4 7-4 dae 
—— 1717 — 1727 | 37 |28 | 65 | 39 135 | 74 6.5 17-4 | 2 
—— _ 1727 — 1737. $65 | 55 }120 | 34 | 30° | 64 12 6.4. 5.2 
Sa 7 IAT F451 §T) | OG W239 36 58 9-6 | 5.8, | -2.4 
>> 1747 —- 1757 | 42 | 33.1 75 || 28 | 23° | 53 WA ea is 20 
“757 4767) TOT | 40 j10T 43° p29) 66 | 76.2) 66 39 
—— 1767 — 1777 | 62 | 79 | 141 || 42 | 38 | 80 i T4.1 8 3 
1777 ATE? f 55150) POS 1. 334/48.) 79-14 | HOLS 4. 76g peead 
E787 8797, 1 39, | 4204 OAL 24.4. 38 “| 62 7-9. | 62) ie og 
—— 1797 — 1801 | 19 | 21 | 40 : g | 13 | 22 10 Sas | 2.25 
