MINNESOTA. 



559 



recognized bonds and claims, $4,253,000 of 

 new 4 per cent bonds were issued. Tbe only 

 other acknowledged indebtedness of the State 

 is $25,000 bonds issued in 1873 for building 

 purposes, which mature in 1883, and $61,000 

 issued in 1868 for seed-grain distribution, for 

 which the State is to be reimbursed by the 

 counties. The people at the last general elec- 

 tion approved the proposition for the applica- 

 tion of the internal improvement land fund to 

 the payment of the principal and interest of 

 the railroad adjustment bonds. This will 

 leave only an insignificant portion of the debt 

 as a burden on the taxable resources of the 

 people, as the lands are now marketable, and 

 when all disposed of will swell the fund to at 

 least $3,000,000. 



EDUCATION. There was an increase in the 

 enrollment of the public schools of 22.638 in 

 the two years, the total number enrolled at 

 the end of 1882 being 196,238, as against 173,- 

 600 in 1880. There were 567 new school- 

 buildings erected, at a cost of $759,022, making 

 the total number 4,260, valued at $3,947,857. 

 The expenditures on the public schools for the 

 two years amounted to $3,844,866. The three 

 normal schools, at "Winona, Mankato, and St. 

 Cloud, had an aggregate enrollment of 939 

 scholars in 1881, and 1,028 in 1882. Their 

 combined expenses were $45,859 in 1881, and 

 $46,081 in 1882. The schools graduated 129 

 teachers in two years. Aid was extended in 

 1882 to 38 schools under the act to encourage 

 higher education. New buildings for the uni- 

 versity are to be erected, for which appropria- 

 tions have been granted and the plans adopted. 

 The experimental farm in connection with the 

 Agricultural College has been sold, and more 

 suitable land acquired. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. The State institutions 

 of charity and correction were not calculated 

 for the great additions to the population re- 

 cently received, so that most of them require 

 to be enlarged. The number of inmates in the 

 State-Prison at the end of 1882 was 279, an in- 

 crease of 29 in two years. The earnings were 

 $26,277 in 1881, and $30,952 in 1882 ; the cur- 

 rent expenses were $49,964 and $54,972. Ad- 

 ditional walls are in construction, and increased 

 cell-room is demanded. In the Reform School 

 there were 123 inmates. The managers ask 

 for the repeal of the law requiring the coun- 

 ties to maintain the youth they send to the 

 institution. The expenses in 1881 were $30,- 

 101 ; in 1882, $31,550. In the Institute for the 

 Deaf, Dumb, and the Blind there are now sep- 

 arate departments for the education of the 

 mutes and the blind. The Imbecile School was 

 removed to a new building in February, but 

 its accommodations, as well as those of the 

 school for the blind, are insufficient, there be- 

 ing 59 applicants waiting admission, for whom 

 there is no room in the imbecile, and 84 blind 

 and 233 deaf-mute youth who have never re- 

 ceived instruction. There were 125 pupils in 

 the deaf and dumb, 34 in the blind, and 41 in 



the imbecile departments. The current ex- 

 penses were $44,278 in 1881, and $49,807 in 

 1882. The burned portion of the Insane Hos- 

 pital at St. Peter has been rebuilt, and the one 

 at Rochester enlarged, but the 635 inmates of 

 the former and 236 of the latter already tax 

 their capacity. The weekly cost per capita in 

 1882 was $3.82 at St. Peter, and $4.13 at Roch- 

 ester. 



TKADE AND INDUSTRY. The capital stock of 

 the banks is reported by the Public Examiner 

 as $9,351,208 in 1882, and $7,990,850 in 1881 ; 

 the surplus funds as $1,600,977 and $1,191,425 

 for the respective years; the deposits as $22,- 

 810,306 and $20,109,435 ; loans and discounts, 

 $27,147,343 and $22,910,609. This is only a 

 partial exhibit of the banking business, as there 

 are 116 private banks, many of which would 

 not furnish reports. 



The amount of insurance risks written in 

 1882 was $122,070,500, 250 per cent more than 

 ten years before; the amount of premiums 

 collected, $1,596,353 ; of losses paid, $914,950 

 nearly three times as much as in 1872. 



The total number of immigrants who settled 

 in the State during the two years is estimated 

 by the Secretary of the Board of Immigration 

 at over 100,000. 



The Surveyors-General of Logs and Lumber 

 report 276,595,640 feet of logs scaled in 1882, 

 and 260,045,720 in 1881 in the first district; 

 and 312,211,780 feet in 1882, and 238,648,210 

 in 1881, in the second district. The quantity 

 of lumber manufactured in 1882 is reported as 

 126,820,590 feet in the first, 423,009,250 feet 

 in the second, and 239,000,000 feet as the esti- 

 mated quantity in the fifth district. 



The agriculture of Minnesota is improving in 

 character as well as extending. Sections which 

 have hitherto been devoted exclusively to wheat 

 now produce a variety of crops. The State is 

 also making marked progress in stock-raising, 

 to which attention has been given only in the 

 most recent time. Fine breeds of stock have 

 been imported in considerable numbers and 

 bought in various parts of the State for breed- 

 ing purposes. The wheat production has in- 

 creased every year, owing to the settling up of 

 new lands, but in the older districts the acre- 

 age under wheat has diminished largely. Con- 

 stant cropping and the chinch-bug have reduced 

 the yield and made other crops more valuable. 

 The rotative system of agriculture and stock- 

 raising and dairying are important means for 

 the preservation of the fertility of the soil, 

 which are now introduced in earnest. The 

 number of cattle in the State increased 100 

 per cent in 1882, of sheep 25 per cent, of 

 hogs 40 per cent. The production of culti- 

 vated hay nearly doubled, of butter more than 

 doubled, of cheese quadrupled, of wool more 

 than doubled, of corn more than doubled, and 

 of oa^s, barley, rye, buckwheat, etc., largely 

 increased. 



Flax has recently become a staple agricul- 

 tural product of Minnesota. There were 505,- 



