Massachusetts

one of the original thirteen states of the American Union. It is considered the most important of the New England States. The general shape is a parallelogram, 175 miles in length and 50 miles wide. There is a slight projection at the northeastern corner and a greater one at the southeastern. The latter terminates in a peculiar crooked peninsula known as Cape Cod. The large islands of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard belong to Massachusetts. The area of the state is 8,315 square miles. Prior to the adoption of the United States Constitution, the state was known as the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It still retains the epithet of the Bay State.

TOPOGRAPHY. The Merrimac River in the northeastern part of the state is important for water power. The state is traversed from north to south by the Housatonic and the Connecticut rivers. The Hoosac range, from 1,200 to 1,600 feet in height, a southerly continuation of the Green Mountains of Vermont, separates the two valleys. The highest peak in the state is Mt. Greylock in the extreme northwest corner. It is about 3,500 feet in height. Mt. Tom, near Holyoke, is 1,200 feet high.

MINERALS. The state abounds in building stone of excellent quality, including limestone, sandstone, and granite. Otherwise the mineral wealth of the state is small. The veins of coal do not pay for mining. Silver and lead have been obtained in small quantities. The North American supply of emery has come largely from Massachusetts.

INDUSTRIES. The chief industry of the state is manufacturing. The latest census placed the annual agricultural production of the state at $42,000,000 and the value of manufactured products at $1,038,000,-393. The very great number of waterfalls has contributed to this result.

There are thirty-three cities having a population of 12,000 or over. As a consequence, the farmers have devoted their attention largely to the production of milk, eggs, poultry, and vegetables, all of which find a ready cash market in the neighboring towns. Commercially, Massachusetts is not an important fruit state. There are a vast number of small orchards. Apples, peaches, grapes, strawberries, and small fruits do well. Aside from apples in an exceptional year, and cranberries, the state has no fruit to sell. For so large a state, the amount of land devoted to cereals seems incredibly small. The report of 1908 gives but 45,000 acres in corn, the chief crop, and but 95 acres in the entire state devoted to wheat. Correspondingly small amounts of oats, rye, and barley are produced. The chief field crop is hay. Tobacco is raised in the Connecticut valley. The average rainfall for the state is about forty-seven inches.

MANUFACTURES. The importance of the state in manufactures seems to be due largely to a money-making instinct. Raw materials are entirely lacking. Copper, iron, coal, wool, cotton, leather, and silk are all brought from a distance. The state has the advantage of numerous waterpowers, however. The southeastern portion, near the coast, has the temperature and moisture requisite to profitable cotton spinning. It was introduced as early as 1788. The mills of Lowell, Lawrence, and Fall River still make forty per cent of the cotton cloth produced in this country. More boots and shoes are made in Massachusetts than in any other state in the Union. The same is true of rubber goods, including rubber boots and shoes. Lynn, Haverhill, and Brockton are important centers of the shoe trade. Massachusetts leads, also, in the manufacture of worsted and woolen goods. The paper output of the state, including fine writing paper, is valued at $22,000,000 a year. Manufactures of carriages, clothing, confectionery, cordage, electrical apparatus, furniture, jewelry, leather, and malt liquors run into the millions. Books, papers, and magazines are published to the value of $30,000,000 a year. The towns situated on the coast are engaged extensively in fishing. Gloucester is the chief American center of the whale, herring, and cod fisheries.

HISTORICAL AND EDUCATIONAL. The earliest settlement was made at Plymouth in 1620. Other settlements followed at Boston, Salem, and other points on the Bay. The colony grew rapidly. It took a leading part in the colonial wars and was a leader in the Revolutionary struggle. Massachusetts has been first and foremost in matters of education. Harvard College was founded in 1636; Williams, 1793; Amherst, 1825; Mt. Holyoke, 1837; College of the Holy Cross, 1843; Tufts, 1850; the Massachusetts Institution of Technology, 1861; Boston College, 1863; the State Agricultural College, 1863; Worcester Polytechnic, 1865; Boston University, 1869; Wellesley, 1870; Smith, 1871; Clark, 1887, and Simmons, 1902. Massachusetts was the first state to establish normal schools. The common school system of the state is efficient. Owing to the immigration of factory operatives, largely from Canada, the rate of illiteracy is only the ninth in the Union. As might be expected, the state is the natural home of free public libraries. The circulating libraries contain about 8,000,000 volumes. The Boston public library is expressive of the sentiment in the state. As to character of building and contents, it is the most noteworthy city library in the United States. The high schools of the state are maintained on a liberal plan. For students in towns too small to maintain high schools, the state ??ys tuition elsewhere. The state institutions are managed with a degree of efficiency to be expected from the most intelligent state in the Union.

RELIGIONS. Although the native home of the Yankee and of Congregationalism, ?46,324 inhabitants are foreign born. Named in order of numerical importance, The foreign nationalities represented are Irish, Canadian English, Canadian French, English, Swedes, Germans, Italians, Russians, Scotch, and Poles. In religious matters the Roman Catholic church has the most followers. Other churches; named in order of membership, are Congregational, Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian, and Episcopalian. The total population in 1900 was 2,805,346. According to the state census of 1905 the population was 2,998,958.

STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources:

See Boston; Lowell; Lynn; Worcester; Springfield, etc.