UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



EZRA PERIN SAVAGE, 

 GOVERNOR OF NEBRASKA. 



cash in vault, $18,179.20; leaving a balance to 

 the treasury of $553,474.42. The Treasurer had 

 then invested educational trust funds to the 

 amount of $459,000 in county bonds of the State, 

 and $780,250.72 in warrants, making a total in- 

 vestment in bonds 

 and warrants of 

 $1,230,250.72 for 

 the first eleven 

 months of the 

 year. The total 

 amount of educa- 

 tional funds that 

 were invested in 

 bonds and war- 

 rants at the date 

 of this report 

 was $4,967,456.88, 

 which was $492,- 

 955.44 larger than 

 at the beginning 

 of the administra- 

 tion. There was 

 on hand, Nov. 30, 

 in the temporary 

 school fund $313,- 

 041.62, to be ap- 

 portioned to the 

 school districts of 

 the State immediately after the close of business 

 on Dec. 2, 1901. 



Valuation. The valuation of the State, as 

 returned by the assessors and county clerks, not 

 including Wheeler County, was $174,124,632.20. 

 Taking the valuation of Wheeler County for 

 1900, the total valuation of the 'State would be 

 $174,422,870.30. In 1900 the total assessed valu- 

 ation was $171,747,593.41, or $2,675,276.89 less 

 than in 1901. This is the first increase in the 

 valuation for several years. 



Education. In the biennial report of the Su- 

 perintendent of Public Instruction, Jan. 1, 1901, 

 were special reports from 72 counties showing 

 that there were 7,364 teachers in those counties, 

 the number then required being 6,943, indicating 

 that more than 94 per cent, of those receiving 

 teachers' certificates in Nebraska are actually 

 needed to teach the schools. While the State 

 Normal School, at Peru, is doing excellent work, 

 its capacity should, the report says, be greatly 

 enlarged. 



The number of students in all departments at 

 the State University at the end of 1901 was 2,256; 

 instructors, 220; volumes in the library, 51,000. 

 The September enrolment of more than 1,300 

 showed a slight gain compared with 1900. Courses 

 were pursued at the summer session of the uni- 

 versity, open to all who pay the entrance fee of 

 $2, but intended specially for teachers and super- 

 intendents. 



The report of the Nebraska Institute for the 

 Deaf and Dumb for 1899 and 1900 states that a 

 new building was occupied in March, 1900, re- 

 lieving the previously crowded condition of the 

 school. The present buildings will accommodate 

 200 pupils. The number Nov. 30, 1900, was 165. 

 Products and Resources. According to a re- 

 port of the secretary of the State Board of Agri- 

 culture, the value of all the soil products in 1900 

 was about $200,000,000. More than 1,000,000 tons 

 of hay were harvested. The corn-crop, as well 

 as others, was injured in 1901 by the prolonged 

 drought, but the estimates at the end of the year 

 indicated a good showing. Increasing attention 

 to fruit-growing in the State is leading to satisfac- 

 tory results. Reports in 1901 from the experiment 

 stations recently established by the Nebraska 



Horticultural So.-i ( i |,,, w ,j i;it 

 been of practical Uenefii ,, 11,,. 



An examination \ 1 1 

 has been made by tin- I 

 of Agriculture, with a 



727 



their work lias 



ndustry. 



h in Nebraska 



te-* I Department 



!' wli.-t.hlT 



1 j... iblp in 



forest production on a J 



the State. The people 



interested in tree planting, and \ h, 



and Forestry Association ua-, <-,,,, ;i -. '"..,, .ti v . 



during the year in disseminating inform*.) i.', n n- 



garding species of trees suitable to ti,, 



climate of the State. In February, I'jiii (,,>\- 



Dietrich issued an Arbor Day proclamation. 



Alfalfa is now profitably grown in almost every 

 county, and other forage plants still more largely, 

 and these form a most important part of the 

 annual products. 



The report of the secretary of the State Dairy- 

 men's Association says that in 1900 more than 

 9,000,000 pounds of creamery butter were made 

 in Nebraska. In June, 1901, the State Food Com- 

 missioner declared that the dairying business in 

 Nebraska has taken .a new start. This he at- 

 tributes mainly to the fact that by means of the 

 separators now in use (hand and power) one- 

 third more of butter fat is obtained than formerly. 



The growth of the sugar-beet is becoming yearly 

 more important among Nebraska farmers. The 

 sugar factory at Fremont in 1900 handled 100,000 

 tons of beets, the largest yearly quantity in its 

 history. 



The State Oil Inspector reported the number of 

 barrels of oil and gasoline inspected by him in 

 1900 as 162,884; fees, $16,284.40. In May, 1901, 

 he reported inspection since Jan. 1 of 53,553 bar- 

 rels; fees, $5,355.30. To this statement the in- 

 spector adds: "I am pleased to report that not 

 only has this department been self-sustaining, but 

 after paying all salaries and expenses, balances 

 paid to the State Treasurer for account of the 

 general fund during two years amount to $11,- 



There are indications that it will not be very 

 long before great profit will accrue to the people 

 of this State from the utilization of its extensive 

 beds of clay, belonging to the Dakota formation, 

 which occupies a strip in eastern Nebraska 200 

 miles long and 30 miles wide. At Table Rock a 

 company is now turning out annually 5,000,000 

 bricks from a clay bank in the vicinity. There 

 are hundreds of workable banks along the west 

 bluff of the Missouri. 



Irrigation and Agricultural Engineering. 

 The State Engineer has published a report to 

 August, 1901, which shows nearly 4,000 miles of 

 canals; estimated cost, $4,773,984; acres covered, 

 1,698,831; estimated increase in land value, $16,- 

 988,310, obtained by adding $10 an acre to all 

 land under irrigation. Fifty-four of the 90 coun- 

 ties have irrigation canals. In some counties the 

 canals are less than one mile in length. The only 

 one in Lancaster County is three-tenths of a mile 

 long, and is used to water a celery field. 



Legislative Session. The session of the Leg- 

 islature opened Jan. 1, and was organized by the 

 Republican majority. On joint ballot the Re- 

 publicans had 71 votes and the fusionists 62. One 

 of the chief duties of this Legislature was the 

 election of 2 United States Senators to succeed 

 Senators Allen and Thurston. After a prolonged 

 deadlock, during which more than 50 ballots were 

 taken, Gov. Charles H. Dietrich was elected for 

 the term expiring in 1905, and Joseph H. Millard 

 for the term that expires in 1907. 



Among the more important acts was a new and 

 stricter game-law. The intent is to extend the 

 protection of the law to new species of game and 



