VERMONT, a State in the North At lantic Division of the North American Union; bounded by Quebec, New Hamp shire, Massachusetts, and New York; admitted to the Union, March 4, 1791; number of counties, 14; capital, Mont pelier; area, 9,564 square miles; pop. (1890) 332,422; (1900) 343,641; (1910) 355,956; (1920) 352,428.
Topography.—The surface of the State is mountainous, being traversed from N. to S. by the Green Mountains, which culminate in Mansfield Mountain in the N. W. with an altitude of 4,300 feet. The State is drained in the E. by the affluents of the Connecticut river, which forms its entire E. boundary line, and in the W. by those rivers entering Lake Champlain, which forms over one half its W. boundary. The principal rivers are the Passumpsic, Wells, White, Black, and Deerfield, flowing into the Connecticut; and Otter Creek, Wi nooski, Lamoille, and Missisquoi empty ing into Lake Champlain. Lake Mem phremagog on the Canadian border re ceives the Clyde and several other small streams. The rivers are not navigable, but afford excellent water power. There are numerous small lakes, the principal ones being Willoughby, Maidstone, Sey mour, Dunmore, Austin, and Bombazine. Several large islands in Lakes Cham plain and Memphremagog belong to the State, North and South Hero, Isle la Motte, and the peninsula of Alburg, with the former, constituting Grand Isle county.
Geology and Mioteralogy.—The prin cipal geological formations are of Azoic and Silurian origin, the entire State being covered with glacial drift. Lau rentian deposits occur in the S. W., and Lower Silurian and Primordial rocks occur along Lake Champlain. Old sea beaches, lake and river terraces, and terminal moraines abound in fossils, and make geological research exceedingly interesting. The State is famous for its marbles. They occur in many localities, especially in Bennington and Rutland counties, and are found in many colors. Iron, silver, gold, galena, and zinc occur in small deposits, and other mineral products are amethysts, feldspar, mica, chalcedony, jasper, garnets, tourmaline, and asbestos. The product of the granite
quarries is over $5,000,000 annually, slate over $1,000,000, and talc about $500,000. The metal production is of little importance.
Agriculture.—Vermont is a farming State and produces all the cereals, but stock raising and dairy farming are the principal agricultural industries. It is especially noted for its production of maple sugar. The acreage, value and production of the principal crops in 1919 was as follows : corn, 40,000 acres, produc tion 2,120,000 bushels, value $3,710,000; oats, 110,000 acres, production 3,960,000 bushels, value $3,564,000; hay, 910,000 acres, production 1,456,000 tons, value $29,266,000; potatoes, 25,000 acres, pro duction 3,125,000 bushels, value $4,906, 000.
Manufactures.—The extensive water power, timber land, and stone quarries of Vermont give it a prominent place among manufacturing States. There were in 1914, 1,772 manufacturing estab lishments, employing 32,704 wage earn ers. The capital invested amounted to $79,847,000; the amount paid in wages was $18,617,000; value of materials was $42,706,000; and the value of the finished product $76,991,000. The principal articles of manufacture are lumber and timber, dairying products, marble and granite tombstones and monuments, paper and wood pulp, flour and grist, woolen goods, hosiery and knit goods.
Bainkimg.—On Oct. 31, 1919, there were reported 48 National banks in operation, having $4,935,000 in capital, $4,220,000 in outstanding circulation, and $9,341,000 in United States bonds. There were also 20 mutual savings banks with $110,241,000 savings de posits.
Edneation.—School attendance is com pulsory for children from 6 to 15 years. No children under 16 who have not com pleted a nine year school course may be employed in railways, factories, mines, or quarries. There were in 1919, 61,059 enrolled pupils in the schools, which numbered 2,472. There were 3,023 teachers. The State has two normal schools. The institutions for higher education are the University of Ver mont, Middlebury College, and Norwich University.