WASHINGTON. 



Directors on April 1, 1897. Their report of the in- 

 stitutions under their charge from that date to 

 Sept. 30, 1898, show expenditures and statistics as 

 follow : For Western Washington Hospital for the 

 Insane, expended $109.516.65. There was on an 

 average 538.75 patit-nts daily during the year end- 

 ing in October, 1898. For th'e Eastern Washington 

 Hospital for the Insane $87,318.97 was expended, 

 the average daily number for the year being 290.23. 

 For the State Penitentiary $87,318".97 was expended, 

 the total number of convicts received for the two 

 years ending in September, 1898, being 298; num- 

 ber released, 377: number remaining, 320. For the 

 State Reform School $25,908.82 was expended. 

 There were in the school on Sept. 30, 1898. Ill boys 

 and 39 girls. For the Soldiers' Home $31,644.38 

 was expended. The Governor, in his message to 

 the Legislature of 1899, says: "In the face of a 

 slightly rising market the saving for the full bien- 

 nial term will be considerably more than $60,000. 

 Added to this the following will show a decrease in 

 expense of management : Expenses of the various 

 boards of trustees for the two years ending March 

 31, 1897, $9,908.50; expenses of the State Board of 

 Audit and Control for eighteen months ending Sept. 

 30, 1898 (this amount includes all office expenses 

 which are not included in trustees' expenses), 

 $5,775.01." 



Education. The State has 1,975 public schools, 

 of which 35 were organized in the past year. The 

 total number of teachers employed during the year 

 was 3,3211,007 males and 2,227 females. The 

 average salary of the former was $42.13 monthly ; 

 of the latter, $34.53. In 1898 97,916 pupils were 

 enrolled; of these 49,908 were boys and 48,008 

 were girls. There are 101 private schools in the 

 State, having a total enrollment of 3,853. The total 

 receipts for the school year of 1898 amounted to 

 $2,490,180.32. The sum paid out was $1,815,662.72, 

 leaving a balance of $674,517.60 at the close of the 

 year. In the cities the salaries of teachers have 

 been reduced, while those of rural teachers have 

 been increased since the report of 1896. 



In connection with the schools the festival of 

 Bird Day (May 6) was established this year in Wash- 

 ington. The object is to prevent the destruction of 

 song birds either wantonly or for their feathers. 



Irrigation. 0. R. Holcomb, Commissioner of 

 Arid Lands, says in his report : " Through the 

 broad-minded policy of Thomas Cooper, Western 

 land agent of the Northern Pacific Railway, a num- 

 ber of reports of reconnoissances of irrigable lands 

 were obtained at practically no cost. The greatest 

 region in the State in which irrigation is carried on 

 is doubtless the Yakima country. In this region 

 irrigation has hitherto been obtained by compara- 

 tively cheap and inexpensive systems. The lower 

 levels have, however, all been practically covered 

 by irrigation systems. A system to cover about 

 215,000 acres of the higher lands of this section was 

 projected by Col, L. S. Hewlett, in 1895-'96. This 

 system provided for a main canal 150 miles in 

 length, taking water from Natchez river. Under 

 this system were selected 85,566.97 acres of vacant 

 public land, and the total estimated cost of the sys- 

 tem is $2,824,200. There were of public, railroad, 

 and private lands under his system a total of 285,- 

 000 acres of irrigable land, making the cost per 

 acre for irrigating under this system $9.90, The 

 great amount of cash outlay necessary to construct 

 this system has prevented any work being under- 

 taken upon it, although the plans are approved l>y 

 the Department of Interior, and the selected public 

 hinds an- withdrawn from entry and settlement. 

 Materials and supplies in the construction of this 

 syMem. exclusive of labor, will cost approximately 

 $900,000. A very economical plan to irrigate 8,470 



acres of land north of Columbia river in Douglas 

 County, by a gravity canal from Priest rapids, 31 

 miles in length, is about to be accomplished. 

 Another very promising irrigation field comprises 

 the lands in the vicinity of Pasco. Surveys have 

 been made to ascertain the possibility of watering 

 certain of these lands by gravity from Snake river 

 and others by gravity from Yakima river by 

 means of crossing the Columbia with submerged 

 pipes. Precipitation of moisture in this district is 

 very slight, not exceeding 7 or 8 inches per annum, 

 and as all this falls during the winter and spring 

 months no crops can be successfully matured without 

 irrigation. The seasons are longer here than in any 

 part of the Northwest, excepting other portions of 

 the lower levels of the Columbia similarly situated, 

 because of the low elevation and the cloudless 

 skies. Fruits and vegetables are matured two weeks 

 earlier and grasses cut two weeks later than in the 

 Yakima and Walla Walla districts. It has been 

 estimated that there are in the State about 3,000,000 

 acres of arid lands. It is calculated that of these at 

 least 1,000,000 can be profitably irrigated." 



Products. Wheat is the staple crop of Wash- 

 ington, the soil and climate are particularly favor- 

 able to it, and there are no pests ; so that general 

 failure of the crop never occurs, and the yield is 

 probably the heaviest of any wheat-growing region 

 in the world. The total amount of wheat from 

 August, 1897, to September, 1898, inspected was 12,- 

 755,418 bushels. 



The State Dairy Commissioner, a newly created 

 officer, says in his first report, that of 1898 : " Wash- 

 ington is fast becoming a great dairy State. Only 

 a few years ago almost all the butter and cheese 

 consumed in the State was shipped from California 

 and the Middle West. Creamery butter manufac- 

 tured in this State will compare favorably with but- 

 ter manufactured in the older sections. The rivalry 

 between creameries has been productive of much 

 good in raising the quality of butter to its present 

 high standard. The enterprise of the creamery men 

 of the State is demonstrated by the fact that we 

 have a well organized 'Dairymen's Association' in 

 a flourishing condition, which is well attended and 

 has its annual meetings. The professors of the 

 Agricultural College, as well as experts from other 

 States, deliver lectures on dairy subjects, which are 

 of great benefit in creating an interest in the scien- 

 tific methods of dairying." 



The total value of the fishing appliances and 

 canneries in the Puget Sound region in 1898 was 

 $1,769,980 ; 3.516 men were employed, and 400,200 

 cases of salmon were packed. The Washington 

 side of Columbia river gives $865.680 value of can- 

 neries and appliances, 1,775 total number of men 

 employed, and 111,525 the number of cases of sal- 

 mon. The Fish Commissioner says in his report : 

 " During the last two years there has been a re- 

 markable increase in the interest manifested by the 

 citizens of the State in the fishing industry, espe- 

 cially is this true of those directly interested. A 

 great many persons who,even one year ago, knew very 

 little of the scheme of artificial propagation, have 

 investigated the matter, and are to-day the strong- 

 est adherents and supporters of tin's means for 

 keeping up and the rebuilding of the great salmon 

 industry of the State. The season of 1898 shows a, 

 considerable falling off in the output of the fisheries 

 of this State. The shortage in the Columbia river 

 district of the salmon pack is not far from 10 per 

 cent, of that of 1897. The output from the Colum- 

 bia river district fisheries, taken as a whole, is not 

 materially less than for the season of 1897, but the 

 Washington side of the river shows a greater fall- 

 ing off in proportion than that shown by the whole 

 district, including both States. The season has 



