[Thanks to Linda Smith for transcribing this chapter]
CHAPTER LVII.
Occupations.—Wayside Trees.
The occupations of the citizens of Marshfield have been varied. In the 19th century, the callings were divided between shipbuilding on the North river and agriculture, and many of our citizens worked for several years at East Boston in the shipyards. There has been some shoe manufacturing in town, but not on a very large scale. The main occupation of our people has been farming. Some of the farms here contain 300 acres, but it is generally conceded now that those unfortunate enough to own so large an area are "land poor," for it has been found that small farms pay better than large. There have been a number of farmers who have made a business of producing milk, but today there are very few in that business, except those living near the beaches.
For the past few years, the closing decade of the nineteenth century, much attention has been paid to the cultivation of the strawberry, so that today Marshfield strawberries sent to Boston markets are well known and have the name of being the finest berries sent there. A night express carries the berries to the Boston market. The larger part of the berries are raised at the northern end of the town.
Trees on the Roadside.
At Marshfield Hills the residents, half a century ago, and later, had an eye to the beauty of the village, and set out elm and maple trees on some of the principal streets, and today the large and stately elms and maples adorning the thoroughfares are the admiration of visitors who frequent the village on the Hills. The Rogers, the Weatherbees, and the Leonards were chiefly instrumental in planting them.