Education.—Ohio has an excellent system of public education extending from the kindergarten through college and university work. The basis of Ohio's educational system was laid by an act of Congress in 1785 setting apart 1 sq.m. in each township of 36 sq.m. for the support of education. The public-school system, however, was established in 1825. The legislature in 1837 es tablished the office of State commissioner of common schools. This office was abolished in 1840, but was revived in 1843 and continued to function until displaced by that of the superintendent of public instruction in 1912. After the reorganization of the ad ministrative departments in 1921, the superintendent of public instruction became the chief administrative officer of the depart ment of education with the title director of education. According to the annual report of the director of education the total public school expenditures for the year 1933-34 were $14.92 per capita of total population or $76.35 per capita of enrolment, representing a decline from the $145,910,000 spent in 193o. The school enrolment in 1933-34, according to the above men tioned source, was 1,346,000. Of this total, 977,754 were in the State kindergarten and elementary grades, 322,283 in secondary schools and the remaining 47,00o were in normal, vocational or special schools. The parochial school enrolment for the same year was 157,128 in the elementary schools and 24,404 in the high school departments. The percentage of illiteracy in Ohio is very low; it was 2.3% in 1930. All children between the ages of 6 and 16 are required to attend school for the full term.
The institutions of higher education supported in whole or in part by the State are : Ohio university at Athens, founded in on the proceeds derived from two townships granted by Congress to the Ohio company; Miami university (chartered in 1809) at Oxford, which received the proceeds from a township granted by Congress in the Symmes purchase; Ohio State university (1873) at Columbus, which received the proceeds from the lands granted by Congress under the act of 1862 for the establishment of agri cultural and mechanical colleges, and reorganized as a university in 1878; and two State normal colleges, one at Bowling Green, the other at Kent. Wilberforce university, for negroes (1856), at Wilberforce, is under the African Methodist Episcopal church; Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo support uni versities; and three, Columbus, Dayton and Warren, support public normal schools. Among the numerous denominational or privately endowed colleges and universities within the State are Western Reserve university at Cleveland, Oberlin college at Oberlin and Ohio Wesleyan university at Delaware.
welfare has control of hospitals for the insane at Athens, Cleve land, Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Cincinnati (the Longview State hospital), Massillon and Toledo; a hospital for epileptics at Gal lipolis; a sanatorium for tubercular patients at Mt. Vernon; an institution for the feeble-minded, a school for the blind and a similar institution for the deaf, at Columbus; a soldiers' and sail ors' home at Sandusky; the Madison Home at Madison; the Bu reau of Juvenile Research at Columbus ; the commission for the blind at Columbus ; an industrial home for boys at Lancaster and a similar institution for girls at Delaware; the State penitentiary at Columbus ; and others.
Agriculture.—Ohio, in 1935, ranked eighth among the States in the total value of its agricultural products. The estimated value of all farm crops in that year was $102,700,000 as compared with $75,700,000 as an average for the four preceding years. Of its total land surface (26,073,600ac.), 22,858,000ac. or 87.7% were, in 1935, included in farms. The number of farms in the State has increased steadily since 1930, the total in that year being 219,296 as compared with 255,146 in 1935. In acreage per farm, however, there has been a large decrease, the average in 1930 be ing 98.1 as compared with 89.6 in 1935. The percentage of tenancy in 1935 was 28.9 as compared with 26.3 in 1930 and 29.5 in 1920. The total value of land and buildings in 1935 was $1,277,556 as compared with $1,693,031 in 1930. The farm population, in 1935, was 1,127,405, or approximately 17% of the State's total.
There was a great variety of produce, but the principal crops in 1935 were Indian corn, hay, wheat, oats, potatoes, apples, tobacco and barley. The Indian corn crop was 157,608,000bu. in 1935; it was grown on 3,582,000 acres. The wheat crop grown on 2,132,000ac. had a product of 46,892,o0obu. valued at $37, 982,000. Oats was the cereal next in importance. The 1,407,00o ac. devoted to its culture produced 50,652,o0obu. of grain valued at $13,676,000. The acreage planted in barley decreased from oo,000ac., the average for 1920-25, to 16,000ac. in 1935; but during the same period the rye acreage increased from 5o,000ac.
to 128,000 acres. The product of these cereals in 1935 was 432, 000bu. of barley and 1,92o,000bu. of rye. The hay crop, chiefly timothy and timothy mixed with clover, amounted to 3,196,00o tons valued at $21,094,000. The cultivation of tobacco was of little importance in the State until about 1840; but the product increased after 185o and for a time was one of the State's leading agricultural crops. In 1935 the crop was 24,565,000lb. grown on 26,20oac. as compared with 41,077,000lb. and 47,50oac., the average for the years 1928-32. The potato crop was 16,524,000 bu. (from 153,000ac.) valued at $10,080,000. Chief among the fruits were apples (7,952,o0obu.), peaches (i,6o6,000bu.) and pears (40o,000bu.).