-------------+-------+------- | 1900. | 1890. -------------+-------+------- Hamilton | 364 | 407 Hillsboro | 131 | 156 Leesburg | 1,513 | 1,650 Lovettsville | 97 | Middleburg | 296 | 429 Waterford | 383 | 385 -------------+-------+------- These circumstances of fluctuation and actual decrease might appear singular if it could not be shown that practically the same conditions obtain elsewhere in the State and Union, or wherever agriculture is the dominant industry. Especially is this true of the counties of Clarke, Fauquier, Prince William, and Fairfax, in Virginia, and Jefferson, in West Virginia. All these farming communities adjoin Loudoun and exhibit what might be called corresponding fluctuations of population between the above-named periods. A decrease then in the population of any of these districts is obviously due, in a large measure, to the partial or total failure of the crops which causes the migration of a portion of the population to large cities or other parts of the country. If the failure occurs immediately preceding a census, the decrease shown will, of course, be large. As another contributing cause, it can be positively stated that the disfavor in which agriculture is held by the young men of Loudoun, who seek less arduous and more lucrative employment in the great cities of the East, is, in part, responsible, if not for the depletion, certainly for the stagnation of the county's population. The white population of Loudoun County in 1880, 1890, and 1900 was as follows: _Census._ _Population._ 1880 16,391 1890 16,696--305 increase. 1900 16,079--617 decrease. The negro population of Loudoun County for the same periods was: _Census._ _Population._ 1880 7,243 1890 6,578--665 decrease. 1900 5,869--709 decrease. The figures show that the negro population has steadily decreased, while the white population increased from 1880 to 1890, and decreased from 1890 to 1900. The proportion of decrease for the negroes was much greater than for the whites. As the occupations of the negroes are almost entirely farming and domestic services, crop failures necessarily cause migration to other localities, and as Washington and Baltimore are not far distant and offer higher wages and sometimes more attractive occupations, there can be no doubt that the decrease is principally due to the migration to those cities. INDUSTRIES. Agriculture, in many of its important branches, is by far Loudoun's leading industry, and is being annually benefited by the application of new methods in cultivation and harvesting. The farmers are thrifty and happy and many of them prosperous. During the Civil War agriculture received a serious set-back, as the County was devastated by the contending armies, but by hard work and intelligent management of the people the section has again been put upon a prosperous footing.