Oklahoma

Education.

Oklahoma has an excellent system of public education, and especially is this true for specialized and advanced instruction. The public school system is administered by a State superintendent of public instruction, a State board of education, county superintendents and district boards. The State board, which is composed of the State superintendent and seven appointed members, has administrative control over the six teachers' colleges, the school for the blind and the school for the deaf. It also ap portions the various State school-aid funds. The scholastic enu meration in 1934 showed 708,000 children of school age. Of this number were enrolled in the public schools and 492,022 were in average daily attendance. The average number of days attended per enrolled pupil was 135; nearly 75% of the pupils were, however, enrolled in schools which were open 160 days or more. The number of pupils enrolled in the State high schools was 114,247, and in the private and parochial schools, 9,674. The total expenditure for schools in 1934 was $25,139,000. Of the total revenue receipts ($27,246,570), the State contributed $4,273,948; the Federal Government $197.013; the rest came from local, county and benevolent sources.

The higher educational institutions supported by the State are the University of Oklahoma at Norman ; the Agricultural and Mechanical college, a land-grant college with experiment stations, at Stillwater; the Oklahoma College for Women, teaching espe cially domestic science and the fine arts, at Chickasha ; Eastern Oklahoma college (School of Mines) at Wilburton; six teachers' colleges at Durant. Edmond, Ada, Weatherford, Alva and Tahle quah; and the Coloured Agricultural and Normal university at Langston. Among the institutions of higher learning neither main tained nor controlled by the State, are Phillips university at Enid; Oklahoma City university at Oklahoma City ; the Catholic College of Oklahoma for Women at Guthrie ; the University of Tulsa at Tulsa ; and Oklahoma Baptist university at Shawnee.

Charities and Corrections.

Under the Constitution the supervision and inspection of charities and institutions of correc tion are in the hands of a State commissioner of charities and cor rections, elected by the people.

The State-maintained institutions in 1936 were hospitals for the insane at Norman, Vinita,and Supply ; the University hospital at Oklahoma City; tubercular sanatoriums at Clinton and Tali hina ; a Confederate soldiers' home at Ardmore and a similar institution for Union soldiers at Oklahoma City; orphanages for white children at Pryor and Helena ; an institute for the feeble minded at Enid; and a home for deaf, blind and orphan coloured children at Taft. The State penal institutions consisted of four training schools, for negro girls at Taft, for negro boys at Boley, for white girls at Tecumseh and for white boys at Pauls Valley; the Oklahoma State reformatory at Granite; and the State peni tentiary at McAlester.

Agriculture and Stock-raising.

Prior to the first opening to settlement by white men in April 1889, the territory now com prising Oklahoma was a cattle country, and since then, although the opening was piecemeal, the agricultural development has been remarkably rapid. By 19oo, 5i•I% of the total land surface was included in farms; and by 1930 the farm area was 33,791,000ac., or approximately 76% of the total. The farm acreage in 1935 had increased to 35,335,000 or 79.6% of the total land area. The average size per farm then was 165.6 acres. The total number of farmers in 1935 was 213,325 as compared with 203,866 in 1930, and 191,988 in 192o. Of the total number of farm operators (203,866) in were whites and 17,824 coloured. In 1935, 81,889 farms were worked by owners or part owners, 775 by managers, and 130,661 by tenants. The percentage of tenancy then was 61.2 as compared with 61.5 in 1930. The total popula tion residing on farms in 1935 was 1,015,562, or about 44% of the State's total. The value of land and buildings in 1930 was $1,242,724,000; by 1935 it had decreased to $784,394,000. The average value per farm then was $4,096. The total value of all crops in 1930 was $134,573,000; but, chiefly because of the decline in prices, the total value in 1935 was $80,900,000.

In the production of broom corn in 1934, Oklahoma ranked first among States of the nation; in grain sorghums, second only to Texas; and in wheat third, the State's product being exceeded by Kansas and Washington. The 2,318,000ac. planted in cotton in 1935 had a yield of 567,000 bales of lint and 252,000 tons of seed, with a combined value of $37,237,000. Wheat was the crop second in importance in both acreage (3,308,000) and value 000). Other important cereal crops were Indian corn, 25,872,000 bu. ; oats, 35,825,000bu.; grain sorghums, 13,160,00obu. ; barley, 1,568,000bu.; and rye, bushels. The hay crop of 1,285,00o tons, valued at $7,662,000 was harvested from 469,000ac. of cul tivated hay and 551,000ac. of wild hay. The potato crop consisted of 2,73o,000bu. of white potatoes valued at $1,638,000, and 1,400,000bu. of sweet potatoes valued at $1,078,000.

The live stock and poultry products of Oklahoma, in 1934, ac cording to the State board of agriculture, had a value of $66,5oo, 000. Of this total $38,588,000 represented the value of the live stock slaughtered and sold for slaughter, and $27,912,000 the chickens and eggs produced. In the production of turkeys, Okla homa comes fifth in the nation. The live stock in the State on Jan. I, 1936, consisted of cattle, of which 774,000 were kept for dairy purposes; 824,000 swine; 190,00o sheep; 426,000 horses; and 235,000 mules. The estimated value was $85,370,000.