Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1913.djvu/643

 FINANCE, DEFENCE — PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRY 521

are public, the rest having been provided by private associations or religions bodies. They comprise 37 hospitals, one dispensary, 18 orphanages (two public), one day nursery, eight homes mainly for adults (one public), and two schools for the deaf and blind (both public). The board of com- missioners for each county has the care of the poor, appoints the overseer and controls the home where indigent and aged poor are sent. Paupers without legal settlement (gained by a year's residence) in a county are sup- ported at the cost of their county of settlement till they can be sent thither. The State board of charities inspects the homes. In all the almshouses in 1911 there were 1,393 pauper inmates (600 coloured).

Finance, Defence. — The state had receipts and disbursements in the year ending November 30, 1912, as follows : —

Dollars

Balance, December 1, 1911 218,221

Receipts, 1911-12 3,413,655

Total 3,631,876

Disbursements, 1911-12 3,341,020

Balance, December 1, 1912 290,856

In 1913 the outstanding debt amounted to 7,832,950 dollars. The State owns stock in railway and turnpike companies. In the year 1909 the assessed value of property was : real property, 287,245,762 dollars; personal property, 277,959,461 dollars; total, 565,005,223 dollars. The true value of all property within the State in 1904 was estimated at : —

Dollars,

Real property 399,567,905

Personal property ..,.., 442,504,313

Total 842,172,218

The militia, or National Guard, consisting of artillery and infantrj', had, in 1911, a total strength of 237 officers and 2,277 enlisted men. The naval militia has 40 officers and 324 men.

Production and Industry. — The chief occupation of the inhabitants of the State is agriculture. In 1910 the area of the farm land was 22,439,129 acres, of which 8,813,056 acres was improved land. Wheat and maize are grown, the yield of the former in 1912 having been 5,322,000 bushels, and of the latter, 51,106,000 bushels. The chief crop, however, is cotton, of which the area for 1909 was 1,359,000 acres, and the yield 649,886 bales; yield for 1911, 774,752 bales; estimated yield for 1912, 878,000 bales. Another important product is tobacco, grown on 179,000 acres, which yielded in 1912, 110,980,000 pounds, valued at 17,757,000 dollars. Other products are peanuts, potatoes, oats, and rye. The rice crop in 1912 amounted to 10,000 bushels. Stock-raising is not important, but there is a growing dairy industry. In 1910 the farm animals were 192,000 horses, 181,000 mules, 297,000 milk cows, 449,000 other cattle, 215,000 sheep, and 1,356,000 swine.

In the eastern portion of the State there are shad and oyster fisheries, both valuable.

Minerals in some variety, but not in large quantities, are found in the State, the chief being corundum, mica (217,299 dollars in 1911), bismuth, talc, andsoapstoric barytes, graphite, coal, phosphate rock, gold (3,478 fine ozs..