Evening star., 1927-05-15
Like Rich. Ancient
Tapestry, Hung
at Door of
Capital.
Many Old Estates
Prosperous People
Have Cultivated
Its Soil With
Success.

for sale very cheap. Many years will
be required to bring ii to a high de-
gree of productivsness. The marsh
land. however. has q value of its own
which has only begun TO be realized.
During the past few years attention
has been called to the highly developed
trapping industry on both sides of the
PatuXent River. There are families
which do nothing else-and with high.
er prices for furs they are prospering.
About 10000 muskrat skins come from
Prince Georges County every year.
averaging tine trappers s1.5O each.
There are occasional mink and even
otters. 4 good otter pelt will bring
as high as $50.
Near the District line there has
been considerable development of
nurseries for ornamentals and small
poultry farms established as sidslines
by workers in Washington stores and
Government departments. Neither OF
these. however. has become a factor
of much economic importance as yet.
And there is hardly n commercial
apple orchard in the whole country.
There is little prospect. say those
who have watched the growth OF
Prince Georges County agriculture,
that diversified farming will have any
great expansion while tobacco remains
so profitable. The farmers have
learned the secret of growing it with
out running the land and will remain
true to 1t.
Supplying Education.
The school problem of Prince
Georges County is increasingly diff
cult. The county wants to give the
people who are moving into the Wash.
ington suburbs as good educational
advantages as they would have in
the National Capital. But these peo-
pie represent no taxable industry.
The school levy must be entirely on
real estate. Consequently the burden
is falling heavily on the farm proper.
ty. and every cent must be conserved.
There is also the difficult problem of
white and colored schools TO be met.
The county has 120 school buildings
and 1925 pupils. There are 324
teachers, with 81 one-tcacher schools,
81 with two teachers. IS with three
or more teachers. and 10 high schools,
most of which have some elementary
grades. The one.teacher buildings are
being scrapped as rapidly as possible
and replaced by consolidated schools
to which bus transportation is pro-
vided Last year the county spent
S15,760 for bus service alone. The
high schools are located as follows:
Laurel. teachers; Hyattsville, "a
teachers; Maryland Park, near the
northeast corner of the District of
Columbia, z teachers; OXon Hill, 3
teachers; Marlboro, teachers; Bowie,
! teachers; Clinton, 3 teachers; Bran.
| dywine, 4 teachers; Marlboro, colored,
teachers. There is also the county's
! agricultural high school at Baden,
miles below Brandywine, where
instruction is given in practical farm
ing and domestic science.
Supt. of Schools Nicholas Orem
compared the school situation Of
Prince Georges County with that
of Washington with the follow
ing statistics: Twenty per cent of the
total population is in the schools,
while the National Capital has only
Is per cent; the education of single
child for year costs S3o in taxes,
while in Washington there is only q
$12 burden on the taxpayer.
Moreover, the wealth of Washing.
ton is not moving in the direction OF
Prince Georges County. The new resi-
dental property is not yielding high
tax return. In spite of this difficulty.
13 new school buildings have been
put up during the past year.
The school system Is directly under
the superintendent. with Offices at
Upper Marlboro. He has elemen.
tary supervisors as assistants, each
of whom must look after 65 teachers.
The teaching force has been put on
a thoroughly professional basis. and
only men and women with proper
training are considered for positions.
AS rapidly as possible all the schools
are being made to conform to the y.
f.. A. standard. which also has been
applied vigorously in Montgomery
County.
The public school system has been
supplemented during the past few
years by highly efficient parochial
school system. which maintains its
own bus transportation to Upper
Marlboro. Plans are under way for a,
colored parOchial school. which Will
take further burden off the county
school system.
Roads OF the County.
The county has slightly over 100
miles of hard-surfaced road. divided
into six trunk lines-the Baltimore
pihc, tic I(eIcHSS uSIWcSH
Bladensburg and Annapolis, the Crane
highway from Baltimore to southern
Maryland through Upper Marlboro,
the last link of which soon will be
completed; the Washington-Marlbo
pike, the Westinghouse Plata road
and the Washington-Indian Head
road.
The State Roads Commission main
tains an Office at Upper Marlboro, and
force of so road patrolnen is kept
busy all the time, each man having
his own section of road to cover
There is also a floating gang of Is
for the heavier jobs.
Few agricultural sections are better
supplied with banks. indicating the
high degree of rural prosperity. There
is a total OF 13 such institutions. some
of them branches of the largest banks
in Maryland. Each of the election
districts has it's local magistrate. The
governing body of the county is the
Board of Commissioners, which meets
every Tuesday at the courthouse.
The present Prince Georges County
has population of approximately
81, 600, scattered in 81 election dis
tricts over 4S2 square miles. The great
concentration of population. Of course.
is in the newer villages Immediately
adjacent to Washington. Their
growth has been so rapid that the.
county assessors admit they have
been unable to keep abreast of 1t. In
1924 the assessed valuation was $34.-
000. 900. Last year it had gone up to
S42, 900 900. There will be a reassess.
ment this year. with every prospect
that the valuation will be increased
to 10000. 900. A great deal of sub
urban property. it is believed Mt the
courthouse. never has been recorded,
and has escaped taxation altogether.
The last general assessment was made
five years ago. In the intervening
years the only check has been by
means of building permits, demanded