536 



KANSAS. 



tioned by the State Board and collected by 

 the County Treasurer of the counties through 

 which the roads run. The annual taxes are di- 

 vided so that they can be paid in semi-annual 

 payments on December 20th and June 20th. 

 All taxes unpaid at those dates have a penalty 

 of five per centum added. All taxes on personal 

 property (for the purposes of taxation all rail- 

 road property is held to be personal property), 

 after the dates above mentioned, shall be col- 

 lected by the sheriffs of the several counties 

 by seizure and sale of property. This law has 

 been in force for three years, and is giving sat- 

 isfaction to the people and the corporations. 

 Under its provisions the assessment of railroad 

 property has increased three millions of dollars 

 over the assessments made by local assessors. 

 The taxes assessed on the right of way, track, 

 road-bed, rolling-stock, tools and materials, 

 telegraph lines, etc., for 1879, amounted to 

 $490,323. 



A joint resolution was passed by the Legisla- 

 ture recommending that a State constitutional 

 convention should be called. 



The estimated assessment of property for 

 1879 was $140,000,000, and for 1880, $145,- 

 000,000. These estimates would require, to 

 meet expenditures, a tax-levy of four mills, 

 distributed as follows : for general revenue, 

 three mills; for Capitol extension, one half 

 mill ; for sinking fund, one tenth mill ; for in- 

 terest, four tenths mill. The following items are 

 from the statement of the assessment of per- 

 sonal property for 1879: 



The agricultural products of the State show 

 annually an increase in amount and value. 

 The values of these in 1878 are thus reported 

 by the Secretary of the Board of Agriculture : 



Field preducts $49,914,434 88 



Increase in total value of farm animals 6,401,871 30 



Products of livestock 10,415,339 82 



Products of market garden 247,510 29 



Apiarian products 55,141 15 



Horticultural products 2,642,770 87 



Total valuation of farm products for 1878. $60,677,067 31 

 Acres in organized counties, 33,599,600; in 

 unorganized counties, 18,443,920; acres under 

 cultivation, 6,538,727.85; increase of cultivated 

 acres during the last six years, 3.567,120.85 ; 

 increase from 1877 to 1878, 943,422.86. The 

 acreage of wheat in 1879 in the State was 

 greater than in the previous year by 223,104 

 acres, making the aggregate for winter wheat 

 amount to 1,297,525 acres. During the last 

 three years the area in winter wheat has in- 

 creased over 100 per cent. The area in spring 

 wheat was over 412,139 acres. The area in 



corn was 2,925,070 acres, an increase of 589,588 

 acres over 1878, and of 60 per cent, during the 

 past three years. The area in oats was 573,- 

 928 acres ; in potatoes, 65,000 acres ; in flax, 

 69,383 acres; in castor beans, 68,179 acres. 

 The area in tame grasses, clover, millet, timo- 

 thy, and blue-grass, aggregated 139,976 acres, 

 and in prairie, meadow, and pasture, 484,019 

 acres. The total area in all farm crops ag- 

 gregated 7,757,130 acres, an increase during 

 the past year of 1,218,403 acres. The winter 

 wheat was unusually fine. The corn promised 

 the largest yield ever known in the State. 

 The live-stock reports show an increase during 

 the past three yeara of 51 per cent, in horses, 

 97 per cent, in mules, 46 per cent in milch 

 cows, 44 per cent, in other cattle, 116 per cent, 

 in sheep, and 283 per cent, in hogs. The farm 

 dwellings erected during the year number 15,- 

 952, valued at nearly $3,000,000. The popula- 

 tion of Kansas on the 1st of March, 1879, was 

 839,978, an increase of 141,481 during the pre- 

 vious year. At the same date there were 

 2,444 miles of railway in the State, and 528 

 miles were built during 1879. 



There were 8,025 sheep reported killed by 

 dogs for the year ending March 1, 1879. The 

 number that died by other causes was 19,021. 

 There were 1,059,640 pounds of cheese made 

 in the State during the year, and 14,506,494 

 pounds of butter. The value of poultry and 

 eggs was $393,070.48, while the value of 

 animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter was 

 $8,665,143. The produce of market gardens 

 footed up $307,292.48. Chickens and eggs 

 foot up more than gardens. There are but 

 31,190 stands of bees in the State, and they 

 made 370,398 pounds of honey, and 10,949 

 pounds of wax. There are in the State 1,867,- 

 192 apple-trees in bearing, 58,482 pear-trees, 

 4,784,076 peach-trees, 169,940 plum-trees, 443,- 

 726 cherry-trees. Those not in bearing are : 

 apple, 3,978,062; pear, 154,265 ; peach, 4,049,- 

 801; plum, 254,968; cherry, 678,426. Fruits 

 of all kinds, except grapes, were a very short 

 crop. Most of the counties reported an aver- 

 age crop of grapes, but in a few the crop was 

 light. The number of acres in vineyards was 

 3,418, and 84,079 gallons of wine were made. 



The charitable institutions of the State are 

 in a prosperous condition. They are controlled 

 by twenty-five persons, divided into five boards, 

 as follows : Regents of the Normal School, five ; 

 Eegents of the State University, six ; Eegents 

 of Agricultural College, six ; Trustees of Char- 

 itable Institutions, five ; and Directors of the 

 Penitentiary, three. The total amount paid to 

 the members of the Boards for the fiscal year 

 ending January 30, 1879, amounted to $5,626.- 

 60. The consolidation of the control of the 

 several charitable institutions, which placed 

 them all in the hands of one board, was made 

 in 1876, and has worked well. 



The debt of Leavenworth county and city, in 

 bonds issued to aid in railroad construction, 

 exceeded at the beginning of the year $2,000,- 



