Virginia

The number and value of live stock on farms Jan. 1, 1935, were as follows : horses, 162,633, $16,005,591; mules, 93,198, $11,022, 245; milch cows, 392,948, other cattle, 477,346, $8,948,196; sheep, swine, 105; chickens, 8,541,655, $4,783,327. The estimated value of dairy butter in 1934 was $4034040, of poultry products $16,836, 736, of live stock sold or slaughtered $5,885,000 (in 1934), and Of wool $523,003.

Fisheries.

Virginia has about 3,00o sq.m. of tidal waters along the eastern coast and in Chesapeake bay where commercial fishing proves very profitable. In 1929 the season's catch totalled 211,285,000lb. valued at $7,285,700. In 1934 it amounted to 246,801,000lb. valued at $4,176,900. In value the 1934 catch exceeded that of all other Atlantic and Gulf States, except Mas sachusetts. The season is usually about 51 months in the spring and summer, and employs about 30,00o men. Chesapeake bay pro duces more oysters than any other body of water in the world, and Maryland and Virginia lead all States in oyster production with over 5,000,000bu. annually. There were in Virginia in 1925 56,744ac. of recorded oyster-planting grounds, the chief locations beside Chesapeake bay being Chincoteague bay, the western shore of Accomac and Northampton counties, and the Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James rivers.

Mines and Quarries.

Virginia's mineral resources are abun dant and varied. Many are as yet undeveloped. In 1929 there were 196 mines and quarries which employed 15,015 workers. The value of mineral production reached $3975300o in 1929; thereafter, due to the world-wide economic depression, it fell sharply. In 1932 mineral production was valued at only $16,927, 000; by 1934 it had recovered to $28,309,000. In that year the chief mineral products in order of value were: coal, $16,375,000; stone, $3,103,403 ; sand and gravel, $1,359,081; clay products, $1,255,579; and lime, $610,649. Coal is found in Virginia in three important districts. The Pennsylvania coal measures extend into the seven Alleghany counties in the extreme south-western corner and it is from here that the bulk of the output comes. In Taze well county is the famous Pocahontas bed which produces one of the highest grades of coking and steam coal to be found in the United States. There is a coal field of Mississippian age in the counties of the Great valley bordering the New river, in which production is still light, but rapidly increasing. Just a short dis

tance west of Richmond is a third bed, one of the first in the United States to be mined, and still a steady producer. There are rich deposits of iron ore in the Alleghanies and western slopes of the Blue Ridge and iron mining has been carried on since the 17th century. Rocks quarried for various uses included granite, limestone, marble, sandstone, slate and basalt, and of all there are practically unlimited quantities.

Manufactures.

In this branch of industry there has been rapid growth. In 1914 there were 5,5o8 establishments employing 102,820 wage-earners and having an output valued at $264,039,000. In 1929 there were 3,252 establishments employing 119,110 wage earners, and turning out products valued at $730,470,008. Wages paid increased from $44,873,000 in 1914 to $117,576,116 in 1929. Compared with 1929 there were in 1935 969 less establishments, 2,757 more wage-earners, $21,023,521 less paid in wages, $104, more paid for materials, and $10,571,578 less in value of production. The total value of manufactures in 1935 was esti mated at $719,898,43o. Of the wage-earners in 1930 697,944 were male and 182,267 were female; a decrease of 2.0% and an increase of 1.4% respectively over 1920.

The chief manufactures were those connected with tobacco. The State in 1935 ranked fourth in the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes, and first in the production of chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff. In that year the value of tobacco products reached an increase over 1927 of $52,270,761. Second in importance were the textile industries, cotton-mill products being valued at $25,040,202, silk and all rayons at and woollen-mill products at $10,153,969. Lumber and wood prod ucts are probably third in importance as a class. The output of sawmills in the State was valued at $10,867,096, of planing-mill products at $6,179,682, of furniture factories at $22,963,065, of box and crate factories at $1,824,679, of cooperage, barrels and staves at $1,049,561. Other products ranking high among the manufactures of the State were those of chemical plants, $22,429, paper manufactures, $21,113,875; railroad repair shops, $17, 363,416; fertilizer factories, $14,999,398; flour and grain mill products, $13,388,491; wood pulp, $13,178,602; bread and bakery products, $11,478,764; knitted goods, $10,504,884; men's work clothing, $8,867,054; newspaper and periodical printing and pub lishing, $8,474,056.