The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-02
Marks Growth
OF Worcester.
FARE FEATURES.
Lost in City's Strides To-
wards Metropolis.

and sure is shown by the reports of
the assessors that have been placed on
file for the past ten years, and a com
parison of the tables shows that the
city is inclined to lose its farming COM
plexion and put on more of metro
politan aspect,
In all that goes to make Worcester a
cityTthat is in the number of property
owners and houses-there has been a
steady increase, but in the returns of
live stock which mark the farming ele-
ments there has been no great increase
and in some respects there has been a
marked falling off in recent years
There is only one department of
farming life which has shown any
marked gain and that is in the number
Of fowls that are owned in the city
This is due. no doubt, to the large num-
Der of citizens who have moved out
into the suburbs and built for them
selves homes with room enough for a
little garden and hen house This is
shown especially in the wards that have
been opened up as residential sections
IN recent years, ward alone now hav-
ing as many fowls as were returned
from the WHOLE city in 1899. when the
the assistant assessors. In 1892, the
number of fowls found in the city was
2215, while the returns from ward for
this year show there are 1920 spring
chickens, and others, in that section of
the city.
Worcester is not great center for
wool raising or the culture of mutton
chops, although a great amount of these
articles is consumed here every year
In ha oh,
that there were SO sheep in the city 10
in ward and so in ward Z. And it may
be said here that the sheep have had
hard time of it, as they have been
kept on the move all the time. Between
1881 and 1890, there was a gradual fall
ing off in numbers until in the latter
year, there were only 20 in the city, Is
In ward and in ward 7. In 1891.
sheep were evidently a great curiosity
in the city as there were only s to be
found here. One resident of ward /
kept one for an ornagent and there
We're scattered about ward for the
same purpose. Sheep raising became
quite an industry in the city in 1892. and
five of the eight wards had focks re-
ported-all of them small and in two
cases there was one sheep which fiocked
by himself. These cases were in wards
and 3. In ward !, there were eight
sheep, in ward 5 there were s. and in
ward there were 6.
The industry was evidently not
paying investment, for in 1893 the num-
Der of wool bearers was reduced to 70
and they were gathered into two wards,
ward 1 having 10 and ward having 2.
The man in ward l went out of the
business in 1894 and there were only 6
of the animals in the city that year 4
In ward 5 and in ward A. In 1895. there
was another boom in sheep raising and
somebody in ward had the courage TO
get in with flock of 49, while the fam
lily in ward 4 had increased to three the
ward man having sold out his stock
or used it for mutton. The ward flock
increased to So in 1895, and people in
wards I and also took a hand at the
business, there being five sheep re
turned in that year from each of those
wards. The ward 8 men seem to have
had difficulties with their flock in the
next two years, because this year there
are only Ia sheep in the ward and there
are six in ward l. these being the only
wards in the city where sheep are to be
found now
In the matter of neat cattle, also. the
city has not kept pace with the repre-
sentatives of city life. In 1889 the re-
turns show that there were 22S neat
cattle housed in the city, while this
year there has been an increase of only
10 over that number.
Swine, another prominent element in
farm life, have fallen off steadily of
late years. In 1880 the number of
swine reported was 3S8, and this year
the number is only $685. and 112 of
them are in ward l. In 1891 there
were BIT swine in the city, in 1892 there
were SS1. and 1893 seems to have been
the banner year, as there were report
ed total of 637. That was a big year
for pork, and 1913 swine were reported
from ward g. The following year there
were only 46 swine in ward 2 and 346
in the entire city.
There has also been a falling off in
the number of cows in the last ten
years. In 1889 there were 1852 cows
reported, while this year there are only
1881, while the number of property
owners has doubled in the same time
The year 1891 seems to have been the
best year for cows, as 2031 are reported
for that year. ward l again showing
that it is the residence Of the farmers
by leading the list with AT.
Horses are just as essential to city
life as they are to farmer life, and the
number of these animals has kept pace
with the growth of city life IN 1889
there were 4442 horses in the city, and
the number has steadily increased ev-
cry year until now there are 1929 re-
ported, the average growth being about
100 horses a year, as may be seen from
the following; 1889, 4442 horses; 1890,
4S7S horses 1891, 5035 horses; 1892, 1870
horses; 1895, 52SS horses; 1894 1904
horses; 1895, Sab horses; 1896, $500
horses; and 1898, 1929 horses.
There has been just as marked an in
crease in the things that indicate the
city life as there has been decrease in
the things which show that a commu
nifty is In the farming business. In
1889 there We're 1919 property owners.
and they pay taxes on 11,671 houses,
while in 1881 there were only 668S
houses.
A comparative table, showing the
growth of the city in these two re-
spects, is given below;
PROPERTY OWNERS.
-Y ears : -