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