INDIANA. 



427 



The State Bureau of Statistics for 1881 re- 

 ports the acreage of oats at 556,103 ; that of 

 1880, 823,847. 



By the chief of the same bureau, some sta- 

 tistics of the diseases of domestic animals in 

 the State were obtained. There are in all 1,011 

 townships, of which 457 made reports relative 

 to these diseases. The diseases to cattle, as 

 reported, are ten in number, and are named as 

 follows: .milk - sickness, mouth-and-foot dis- 

 ease, black-leg, mouth-disease, catarrhal Texas 

 fever, dry murrain, garget, erysipelas, weed in 

 bag, and itch. These diseases, with diseases 

 unknown, killed in 1880 328 cattle. The total 

 number of deaths, if all the townships had re- 

 ported, would have been, at the same rate, 454 

 out of a total of 973,143 cattle in the State, or 

 1 in 2,143. The diseases of horses and mules 

 reported are distemper, yellow water, epizo- 

 otic, lung-fever, colic, glanders, quinsy, farcy, 

 blind staggers, and spinal disease. These de- 

 stroyed during the year 981 horses and mules. 

 There were destroyed during the year 1,670 

 sheep by foot-rot, scab, grabb, and by dogs. 

 The dogs did about as much harm as disease, 

 for they killed 818 sheep of 1,670 reported. 

 The only disease of hogs is cholera, and this 

 malady carried off 119,647. 



This State Bureau also reports that 274 com- 

 panies or firms are engaged in coal-mining and 

 445 in stone-quarrying. The Indiana coal-fields 

 embrace an area of over 7,000 square miles, 

 offering seven workable seams at a depth rang- 

 ing from 50 to 220 feet, and averaging 80 feet 

 below the surface. The seams vary in thick- 

 ness from 2^ to 11 feet, averaging 4$ feet. 

 The quality is fair to good, as shown by analy- 

 ses in the geological reports. An area of 600 

 square miles in this field yields a superior 

 u block " or " splint " coal, which is used in 

 the blast-furnace as it comes from the mine, 

 without coking. It may be had on every line 

 of railway at from 5 to 10 cents per bushel, or 

 at from $1.50 to $2.80 per ton. Indiana has 

 inexhaustible beds of fire and potters' clay, 

 brick clay, cement, lime, sandstone, paving- 

 stone, and limestone of superior quality, with 

 extensive mines of kaolin. 



The Governor made the appointment of Cal- 

 vin Fletcher, of Owen County, the Fish Com- 

 missioner of the State. He is required, among 

 the duties assigned to him, to examine the va- 

 rious lakes, rivers, streams, and water-courses 

 of the. State, and ascertain whether they can 

 be rendered more productive in the supply of 

 fish ; also, what measures are desirable and 

 expedient to effect this object, either in propa- 

 gating and protecting the fish that at present 

 frequent the same, or in the selection and prop- 

 agation of other species of fish therein, or both. 

 Said commissioner shall also inquire into and 

 test the best modes of artificial propagation of 

 fish in the various waters of the State, and 

 shall procure and superintend the procuring of 

 the fish, fish eggs or spawn, necessary for such 

 waters and the propagation of the fish therein. 



The expenses of the State Prison North dur- 

 ing the year ending October 31st exceeded the 

 receipts $1,359. The number in prison at that 

 date was 572. Of these prisoners the number 

 who could read and write was 446, and the 

 number who could neither read nor write was 

 100. The number who could read only was 

 26 ; the number born in the United States was 

 501. At the time of conviction 5 were under 

 fifteen years of age, 117 were between fifteen 

 and twenty years, 184 between twenty and 

 twenty-five years, and 114 between twenty- 

 five and thirty years. 



In the Southern Prison at the same date 

 there were 518 convicts: 120 were minors at 

 the time of conviction, 1 37 between twenty and 

 twenty-five years of age, 110 between twenty- 

 five and thirty, and 1 was over sixty -five ; 125 

 were intemperate, and 228 could not write. 



In the Insane Asylum the whole number 

 treated during the year was 1,738, and the 

 average daily number resident was 1,070. The 

 ratio of recoveries on admissions was 49 per 

 cent, and the ratio of deaths in the whole 

 number treated was 6 per cent. The number 

 of insane in the State is estimated at about 

 2,500. 



In the Deaf and Dumb Institution, for the 

 year ending October 31st, there were 405 pu- 

 pils admitted and 61 dismissed, leaving 344 

 enrolled. On the basis of 100 per cent as per- 

 fect, the superintendent gives the following 

 figures as the average of the pupils of all grades 

 for four years : 1878, 84 per cent ; 1879, 83 per 

 cent; 1880, 85 per cent; 1881, 86 per cent. 

 In the mechanical and industrial departments 

 equal progress has been made, and of the 61 

 discharged a large number were prepared to 

 pursue vocations that they had learned at the 

 institution. 



In the Blind Asylum 122 pupils are enrolled, 

 comprising representatives of nearly all the 

 counties of the State. Three courses of study, 

 literary, musical, and industrial, are now open 

 to the inmates. More than 1,500 pieces of fab- 

 ric work have been made by the girls during 

 the year, and the boys have been equally suc- 

 cessful in their departments. 



The State Bureau of Statistics has prepared 

 a table which shows the relative value of the 

 cost of machinery to the agricultural product. 

 The annual value of implements, which includes 

 repairs, is obtained by dividing the first cost by 

 the number of years the implements will last. 

 The price and duration are obtained by consult- 

 ing a large number of dealers and intelligent 

 farmers. The value of the products is obtained 

 from reports made to the bureau by 1,100 

 township assessors throughout the State, and 

 is based upon the average of the last three 

 years. The results of these statements are that 

 the annual cost of agricultural implements and 

 machinery is $3,647,833.90; the annual value 

 of agricultural products, $97,395,505.50 ; the 

 ratio of annual cost of implements to annual 

 value of production is $1 to $26.69. Benton 



