When the first white settlers came to Ver mont they found the Indians making in rude fashion sugar from maple sap and by methods constantly improving maple sugar and syrup have been made from earliest times. In the early spring before most farm work can be undertaken the trees are tapped and the sap boiled, often before the snow is off the ground. Seasons vary, but the average annual production is given at 10,000,000 pounds having a value of over $2,000,000.
Vermont has long been known for the quan tity and excellence of its dairy products. Much of the grain and hay raised is fed to dairy cattle and much land otherwise valuable for crops is given over to pasturage for the same purpose. The value of these products for 1917 is given as $12,128,000. In addition to butter and cheese a great deal of milk is sent to Boston and New York. In some parts of the State, noiably in the immediate vicimty of Lake Champlain, many apples, pears and other fruits are raised, the crop for 1917 amounting to $1,191,429. The extensive forests which cover the mountains and their slopes afford a large amount of lumber which is sold at a value annually of $8,500,000. There are a State forestry depart ment and 11 State forests which include in all 9,555 acres. Besides these forests which are directly under the control of this depart ment, other forests over the State are administered under its advice and direction.
Manufactures.— Vermont is rightly re garded as an agricultural State, for a large part of its territory is in farm land, and a very large capital is invested in farms and their equipment, but the value of manufactured goods is far greater than that of the produc tions of the soil.
There are no less than 1,772 tstablishments, employing 36,467 persons with a capital of $79,846,775 and an output valued at $76,990,974. The 36,467 persons employed in industry in 1914 received $18,617,000 in wages, and by their labor added $34.256,000 to the value of the raw product. Thus, the wage-earner received an average wage of $510. If we allow 6 per cent interest ($4,790,820) on the capital' in vested ($79,846,775) and 5 per cent ($4,000, 000) for depreciation and other charges, there remains for the captains of industry a net profit of $6,848,180, a sum inordinately high (nearly 20 per cent of the total value added by manufacture) in view of the pittance paid the wage-earner who produced it. Of the total number of wage-earners only about 215 are under 16 years of age and for most of them the hours of labor are from 54 to 60 hours per week. The principal manufactures are paper and wood pulp, lumber and wooden ware, machinery, woolen and cotton goods, flour, agricultural implcments and besides In less amount magy 2ther articles.
Transportation.—Long before the coming of white men in the 16th century Lake Champlain was undoubtedly a thoroughfare for the Indians and later the canoes of these people, the bateaux of the French and boats of the Eng lish went to and fro on warlike or peaceable errands and the principal rivers were also much used as highways from one part of the State to another. In 1795 Ira Allen went to Eng land to urge building a ship canal which was to connect Lake Champlain and the Saint Lawrence. Another vain attempt was after ward made to connect the lake and the Con necticut River. In 1823 a canal from Lake Champlain to the Hudson River was finished. In 1808 a steamboat was launched on Lake Champlain and boats have been carrying freight and passengers ever since. A large araount of freight is also carried by canal boats which are towed up and down the lake and there are a few sailing vessels. But the
lake traffic is far less than formerly before railroads slcirting the shores were built. The first railroad in Vermont was completed in 1848. This ran between White River Junction and Bethel. In 1851 the Central Vermont Railroad was finished and on the west side of the State the Rutland Road about the same time and these two have always remained the principal roads. Next to these the Boston and Maine has most mileage. The Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific pass through parts of the State, 16 other lines complete the roads of Vermont, the total mileage being 1,101. There are 115 miles of electric lines and numerous stage routes which connect inland towns with the railroads.
early as 1761 Vermont ap propriated tracts of land for school mainte nance and sums of money were voted in 1782 for the same purpose. During the years that have passed since, the school system has gradually developed and in most respects wholly changed until it has attained its present efficiency by which it is placed in the front rank of the most advanced States. For many years the best secondary schools were the academies and in the 40's there were over 50 of these insti tutions in flourishing condition. Later as the public scnools developed the academies dis appeared until in 1900 only 17 remained and at present the high school more than fills their place. There are now 81 high schools and 28 junior high schools,2,439 public schools, with 3,212 teae.hers and 63,962 enrolled pupils. The difficulty of securing properly trained teachers for the rural schools led the legislature of 1915 to pass a law by which such teachers are paid by the State an allowance in addition to what they receive from the town in which they teach, this allowance to be more or less as the training of the teachers is more or less. By this law it becomes of personal interest to each person who wishes to teach to secure as cotnplete a preparation as possible. From 1856 to 1874 the school system was controlled by a board of education with its secretary as executive officer. This board was abolished in 1874 and its duties vested in a State superin tendent who was elected at each session of the general assembly. In 1894 free textbooks were provided for all public schools and in 1906 all these schools were made entirely free. In the same' year the State divided into school districts each with its superintendent. In 1908 manual training was adopted in several schools, in 1910 teacher training classes were estab lished and in 1912 courses in domestic science were adopted in some of the larger schools. Soon after courses in agriculture were added. By act of legislature, 1912, a thorough investi gation of the entire educational system of Vermont was authorized and a commission ap pointed to carry out the provisions of the act. This commission entrusted the survey to the Carnegie Foundation which published a report in 1914. As this report was prepared and the investigation made by educational experts it is of great value tor many of its recommenda tions apply to other States as well as to Ver mont. As the result of this work the school system was thoroughly revised. A board of education was appointed which elects a com missioner of education under whom is placed the whole management with the aid of 66 district superintendents. The State budget for schools in 1917 was $2,246,120 and this is in creased by the income from over $200,000, a fund given to the State by Arunah Hunting ton,.available since 1886. In addition to the public schools, Vermont has four colleges, two normal schools and two agricultural sc_hools.