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Show 14 REPORT OB THE OOXXISSIONER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS. in 1902 to 102,130; in 1887 the number of Indians who could read was 19,816 and the number who could use English for ordinary purposes was 25,255; for 1902 there were 47,081 of the first named and 62,616 of the latter. In 1889 (the first year this item was reported) the value of the prod-ucts of Indian labor sold to the Governmeut was $71,260, in 1902 it had increased to $461,173; in 1889 the Indians sold products to others than the Government to the value of $499,333, and in 1902 to the amount of $1,552,624. A civilized community is generally ganged by the character of its public highways and roads, and it is noticeable that in very many parts of this country the improvement of these thoroughfares has not kept pace with progress in other matters. It is therefore of interest to note that in 1892 it was reported that the Indians had put in during tbe year 9,309 days of labor on their highways, while during 1902 this number of days was increased to 35.964. As is well known, the Indian loves a pony or burro, and his wealth in other days was counted by the number of these animals he possessed. But here also the civilizing process is in evidence. From 443,244 ponies and burros owned by him in 1890, the number has decreased to 344,646 in 1902, while for the same period his cattle increased from 170,419 to 288,884 head. As an indication that the adult Indians are becoming tillers of the soil, thereports show that last year they cultivated 361,680 acres of land and raised 913,203 bushels of wheat, 742,869 bushels of oats, rye, and bar-ley, 594,571 bushels of corn, 444,577 bushels of vegetables, 70,652 bushels of flax, 288,391 tons of hay, and made 134,781 pounds of but-ter ; they sawed 6,512,000 feet of lumber and marketed 76,820,000 feet of timber; they had 1,493,451 wres of laad under fence and built 433,801 rods of fencing; 11,453 families are said to be living on their aUotment9. While the above data are brought as evidences of the Indian's mate-rial progress toward civilization under the educational system of the Department, yet a comparative study of the tables indicates such prog-ress to be slow. It also presents the encouraging feature that, while slow, it seems to be sure, and with the changes of policy of late years the succeeding years should produce more rapid results. Outing system.--As an adjunct to the industrial work of the schools , the "outing system" is most valuable. This system consists in placing lndian boys and girls enrolled in certain schools out into the families of surrounding farmers, the boys for general farm work and the girls for various household duties. The "outing system" is brought to its greatest perfection at Carlisle; Pa., which large school is in a section peopled by thrifty farmers. In their homes the practicalwork of the farmer is learned by experience through several months of the year. The girls, under the tutelage of their good wives,l$arn domesticity and |