In 1935 there were 105 banks in the State, 44 of them national banks, with total resources of $251,800,000. Their total deposits June 3o, 1935, were $227,200,000 of which $90,500,000 were on savings accounts.
school system of Oregon is under the con trol of a State board of education composed of the governor, sec retary of State and the superintendent of public instruction. The progress of education in the State is represented in the following figures: the school enrolment of 175,510 in 1924 increased to 202,595 in 193o and 201,556 in 1934. High school enrolment in creased from
to 47,687 and 55,419 for the same years. The total cost of education increased from $19,119,271 in 1924 to $19,573,000 in 1930 and $13,049,000 in 1934 while the per capita per pupil attending decreased from $122.8o to $96.61 and
The average number of days taught increased from 140 per year in 1930 to 143 in
teachers increased from 6,208 to 7,657. Of the 201,556 pupils for the year
146,137 were in grade schools and 55,419 in high schools. There were 12,817 enrolled in the private and parochial schools, of whom 2,026 were in high schools. There were 7,657 public school teachers whose average salary was $921. There were 2,068 school districts in the State of which 31 were first class (1,000 or more children of school age), 109 second class (between 200 and i,000 children), and 1,928 third class (less than 200 children). The consolidation of schools is progressing, eliminating the weaker rural schools. In 1934 there were 274 four-year high schools, of which 188 were operated by regular, and 86 by union, high school districts.
State institutions of higher learning are the State Normal school at Monmouth, the Southern Oregon State Normal school at Ash land, the Oregon Agricultural college at Corvallis, and the Univer sity of Oregon at Eugene. The first was the only State normal school until 1925 when the legislature appropriated $175,000 as a special building fund for the Southern Oregon State Normal school and provided an annual tax levy of
of a mill for its support and maintenance. It opened in 1926. The Normal school at Monmouth had an average attendance in 1935 of 889 students, but it was unable to meet the demands of the State for trained teachers. Oregon Agricultural college had in 1934-35 an enrol ment of 2,857. The school offers degrees in engineering, agricul ture, home economics, commerce, forestry, pharmacy, vocational and educational courses. Degrees conferred in 1934 were 400.
The Agricultural college also has charge of the eight agricultural experiment stations located at Corvallis, Union, Moro, Hermiston, Talent, Burns, Astoria and Hood River. Its extension service work throughout the State is also of very great importance. The Uni
versity of Oregon, founded in 1872, had in 1934-35 an enrolment of 2,756 full-time students. The number of degrees conferred in
was 446.
Oregon State penitentiary, situated at Salem, is under the control of the gover nor. Its average daily population increased from 419.8 in the biennium 1922-24 to 818 in 1932-34. The prison has the most complete whipping, retting and scutching flax plant in the United States, also a lime plant doing excellent business, and a 432ac.
farm. These industries furnish employment for the prisoners, who are paid a small wage for their labour, and help to support the institution. There is a prison library of 25,00o volumes. Under the direction of the Oregon State board of control are the Oregon State hospital for the insane at Pendleton and similar institutions throughout the State.
Oregon also provides State aid to a number of private char itable institutions in accordance with a law enacted in 1913. Such institutions make application to the board of health and, the application being approved, receive $20 a month for each charity child under five years of age, and $16 per month for each child over five and under 17 years. The State child welfare commis sion passes on all petitions for adoptions, and inspects all institu tions and maternity homes for which it issues licences.
Agriculture is the main indus try of Oregon. Of 61,188,48oac., the total area of the State, 28.4% or 17,358,0ooac. was in farm land in 1935. This represented an increase of 809,00o over 1920. Public lands still unappropriated and unreserved amounted to I3,012,158aC. in 1933 and 12,919,345 ac. in 1934. This represented less than one-fifth of the State. Homesteads in 1934 amounted to 118,853ac. and in 1935 to 53,711 acres. Of the last named, 37,742ac. were for stock-raising only. The number of farms increased from 55,153 in 1930 to 64,826 in 1935; the average acreage per farm decreased from 300.1 to 267.8 during the same years. The value of farm land and build ings dropped from $630,828,000 in 1930 to $448,712,000 in
and the value of live stock decreased from $82,483,000 to $47. 805,000. Farms operated by tenants, contrary to the general tendency in the United States, increased from 17.8% in 1930 to 21.7% in 1935. These statistics reveal that Oregon survived the period of agricultural distress following the depression with more success than most States. The good showing of the figures is due largely to steady production in the dairy and diversified farming valleys west of the Cascades. Dry-land farming suffered a serious setback in production.