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MISSISSIPPI as having the best farming land in the South. The most important agricultural product is cotton, although corn is produced in large quantities. The production and value of the principal crops in 1919 were as follows: Corn, 59,700,000 bushels, valued at $95,520,000; oats, 5,282,000 bushels, valued at $5,546,000; hay, 648,000 tons, valued at $13,284,000; potatoes, 1,530,000 bushels, valued at $2,830,000; sweet potatoes, 10,290,000 bushels, valued at $11,525,000; cotton, 946,000 bales, valued at $177,375,000.

Banking.—On Oct. 31, 1919, there were reported 33 National banks in operation, with $3,750,000 in capital, $2,227,443 in outstanding circulation, and $2,740,250 in United States bonds. There were also 293 State banks, with $10,262,000 capital, and $5,093,000 surplus.

Manufactures.—The State is not among the most important industrially. There were in 1914, 2,209 manufacturing establishments giving employment to 42,702 wage earners. The capital invested was $81,006,000; the amount paid wage earners was $19,177,000; the value of the materials used was $41,340,000; and the value of the completed product was $79,550,000.

Education.—There are about 800,000 school children in the State. There is no compulsory school law. Separate schools are maintained for white and colored children, and in recent years the legislature was somewhat backward in passing laws tending to improve educational conditions, but beginning with 1910 several important measures have been passed. These included provisions for consolidation of schools, the establishment of agricultural high schools, and the creation of a text book commission and of a supervisor of elementary rural schools. There is a normal school at Hattiesburg, and a normal school for colored students at Shelby. The institutions for higher education include the University of Mississippi, Mississippi Agricultural and Mechanical College, Mississippi College, and Millsaps College. There are also several colleges for women.

Churches.—The strongest denominations in the State are the Regular Baptist, colored; Regular Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, South African Methodist; Methodist Episcopal; Roman Catholic; Presbyterian, South; Cumberland Presbyterian; Disciples of Christ, and Protestant Episcopal.

Charities and Corrections.—The charitable and correctional institutions include the State Charitable Hospital at Jackson, State Charitable Hospital at Vicksburg, State Charitable Hospital at

Natchez, State Insane Asylum at Asylum, and State Charitable Asylum at Meridian.

Railroads.—The railway mileage in the State was 4,480. The principal railroads are the Illinois Central, 679 miles, the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley, 1,144, and the Mobile and Ohio, 315.

State Government.—The governor is elected for a term of four years. Legislative sessions are held quadrennially, beginning on Tuesday after the first Monday of January, and are unlimited as to length of session. The legislature is Democratic. There are 7 representatives in Congress. The State government in 1920 was Democratic.

History.—Mississippi was originally part of the colony of Louisiana, being settled by the French in 1716. In 1728 the settlers were nearly exterminated by the Indians, and in 1763 the territory was ceded to Great Britain. At the end of the Revolution it became a territory of the United States, and was admitted to the Union as a Federal State Dec. 10, 1817. In 1861 it passed an ordinance of secession, took a prominent part in the Civil War, and finally, in February, 1870, was readmitted to representation in Congress, after ratifying the 15th amendment. Amendments to the State constitution were made in 1875 and 1877. Since the war the State has made much progress, and has entered a state of continued prosperity.  MISSISSIPPI AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE, an institution maintained by the State of Mississippi to further scientific agriculture and industrial education. It was founded in 1878 and is located at Agricultural College, Miss. Residents in the State receive free tuition, others pay a fee of $100 per year, the course leading to a degree lasting two years. The College is one in which instruction i s n military drill and government is given and a United States Army officer is detailed for service there. The students all wear a uniform prescribed by the authorities. The enrollment is approximately 1,200, with a faculty of 105.  MISSISSIPPI COLLEGE, an educational institution in Clinton, Miss.; founded in 1826 under the auspices of the Baptist Church; reported at the close of 1919: Professors and instructors, 16; students, 475; president J. W. Provine.  MISSISSIPPI RIVER (from an Indian word signifying Great Water, or Father of Waters), a river of the United States, forming with its tributaries one of the great water systems of the world.