hats. Gathered at Caussade and Septfonds the pailloles are sewn and are used to make hats. The initiative came from Lady Petronilla Cantecor (1762-1846), born "Gleye" at a place called ''Bourrou", in the parish of St. Martin de Cesquières, a town of Caussade and of peasant origin selling at the market. In 1860, the services of the railway are a boon to the hat industry, since heavy modern machines ship easily to the station platform. Soon local straw is insufficient, it is imported from Italy or in the form of rice straw from the Far East . Benefiting from the arrival of the railroad, attractive Caussade showed a slight increase in population . The imperial census published 10 January 1867 revealed a population of 4208 inhabitants, more than half, or 2495 in the caussadaise agglomeration. But the demographic stagnation gave way to a slow decline. By the early 1880s, the town with its preserved houses of the 13th and 14th century, had exceeded 4000 inhabitants. Straw hat Factories, stamens and cadis animate the heart of the old city, while in the neighborhood or surrounding areas, a considerable number of lime kiln and brick kilns remain in business . The agricultural show promotes agricultural production, and fruit farms. A stallion station confirms the ancient forage quality of the plain. Besides this common canvas, the once flourishing trade of grains, flour, saffron, fruits, truffles and poultry continues. The hat industry suffered the vagaries of fashion and collapses. Chapelleries were still active in 1930, they used other materials, felt or textiles of knit takes over. In 1923 the population had 3630 inhabitants . By road the village is 24 kilometers from Montauban. It is served by the railway Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse. Activities in order of importance are Electromechanical, headgear, grains, the farming of poultry, and phosphates The railway station at Caussade used to export phosphate of lime. Deposits of cantons de Caylus, Caussade and Saint-Antonin were operated from 1870 by an industrial company, Compagnie des Phosphates du Midi. These compact masses phosphorite whitish, pale grey or yellow or red in colour are similar to the Natterjack and were also crushed and used as fertilizer locally. Caussade is also the headquarters of large international groups such as Caussade Seeds (creating and placing on the market genetics seeds for arable crops and forage production) and EMPA (human machine interface) References Communes of Tarn-et-Garonne Quercy