cheese factories has increased to four, and the owners expect to place in the market about 5,000 boxes. The quality is pronounced excellent, and it meets with a ready sale in the adjoining Provinces, as well as entirely taking the place of the imported article at home. The value of this year’s operations is estimated at $28,000, or £5,600 stg. This year the number of starch factories has increased to ten, with a total capacity of 2,500 tons ; the output averages about 1,500 tons, the quantity being aﬁected by the price and supply of potatoes, and the demand for the product. This would be worth about $90,000 or £18,000 sterling.

In addition to the above, there are three large machine shops, with accom- panying foundries, a smaller for repairing guns, sewing machines, &c., and for electroplating; several furniture and tobacco factories, two high class cloth factories of considerable capacity, a boot and shoe factory, steam biscuit factory, three large woodworking factories, and numerous other minor industries, all in full employment, while a “roller process ” ﬂour mill with a capacity of 80 barrels per day is in course of completion.

EDUCATION.

The administration of the educational interests of the Province is vested in a Board of Education. a Chief Superintendent and Inspectors. Each District has a local Board of Trustees, elected annually by the ratepayers. By the report of the Superintendent for 1886, it appears that there were then 437 public schools comprising 509 departments, 498 of which were in full operation. These » are divided into three classes, Primary, Advanced, Graded, and High Schools. The salaries of the teachers are paid from the Provincial Treasury, but may be supplemented by local assessment, in which case the Treasury pays a further equal amount. The Government subsidy varies, according to grade, from $180 to $450 for male teachers, and from $130 to $380 for female teachers. The amount paid for Education, by the Government alone, for the year 1886, was $111,992.21, over £23,000 sterling, or about 448 per cent. of the average revenue, while the supplements &c. paid locally amounted to $36,786,75.

A special report of the Chief Superintendent states the following :— '

“ Up to 1852, the Schools of this Province were mainly supported by volun- tary subscriptions, and such local efforts as could be secured by mutual co-oper- ation. In 1852, the Free Education Act was passed, under which the salaries of Teachers were paid almost entirely from the Provincial Treasury. The stimulus thus given to education resulted in the establishment of the Provincial Normal School in 1856, and of the Prince of Wales' College in 1860. From 1860 until 1877, very little was effected in the way of legislation for the improvement of the schools, although the administration was very ell'ective during that period. In 1877 the Public Schools‘ Act was passed, which provided for the establishment of a Department of Education, and intro iuced into our Public School system many of the most approved principles and most modern methods of other countries. In 1879 the College and Normal School were amalgamated, and ladies were admitted for the ﬁrst time into the former institution. Many improvements in the administration of the educational affairs at the Island, for the advancement and encouragement of the teachers, and for the grading of the different schools, have been introduced since 1879, and are now beginning to be in effective operation.

The effects of the different changes and legislative enactments will best be represented by giving the statistics for each decade since 1841 :—-

Population Schools. Pupils. of Province. 1841 ........... 121 4,356 47.0 $4 1851 ....... . . . . 135 5,366 66,457

1852 Free Education Act passed. 1856 Normal School established. 1860 Prince of Wales‘ College opened.