420 



INDIANA. 



where practicable, the illiterate prisoners are 

 taught to read and write. The superintend- 

 ent reports that, out of the number of in- 

 mates who were discharged during the year, 88 

 per cent are doing well. The average cost of 

 maintaining infants committed to the institu- 

 tion is estimated at $136 a year. The average 

 sentence of the convicts received during the 

 fiscal year is one year and six months. The 

 oldest life-prisoner is now seventy-six years of 

 age, and has served twenty-six years of the 

 sentence. In summing up the condition of 

 affairs the managers state that "the results of 

 the work of the six years since the institution 

 has been entirely controlled by women will, 

 we think, compare favorably with those of the 

 initial years of the movement when under the 

 control of men." 



The State Prisons at Jeffersonville and at 

 Michigan City are more nearly self-supporting 

 than they have been for several years. The 

 average number of prisoners at the former 

 prison during the past year was 564. The 

 average number of prisoners at the prison at 

 Michigan City was 621. 



STATISTICS. According to the report of the 

 State Bureau of Statistics, the agricultural 

 productions of the State in 1881 and 1882 were 

 as follow: 



There are 233,082 pear-trees of bearing age 

 in the State, 112,222 plum-trees of bearing age, 

 and bearing quince-trees 52,933. 



Taking the average prices of these produc- 

 tions as a basis for estimating their value, it 

 would stand about as follows : 



LEADING PRODUCTIONS OF 1882. Home value. 



Wheat $44,582,211 00 



Corn 57,849,898 00 



Oats 4,492,34448 



Rye 411,803 75 



Barley 910,973 60 



Flax-seed 950,723 25 



Tobacco 2,718,697 20 



Hay 22,399,286 00 



Apples 12,108,40980 



Peaches 3,095,454 00 



Irish potatoes 8,632,415 00 



Sweet-potatoes 696,245 00 



Total $153,847,961 OS 



Tile-drainage is now largely resorted to. 



The reports from thirty-one counties to the 

 State Bureau of Statistics show that there was 

 a reduction of the mortgage indebtedness on 

 real estate during the year then expired of 

 $600,000. The counties embraced represent 



about one fourth of the State, and will give a 

 proportionate average for the entire State. Re- 

 ports from twenty-three counties, just one 

 fourth of the State, show an increase in the 

 number of owners of real estate in the aggre- 

 gate of 8,649. 



According to the reports of the township 

 assessors, the number of acres of timbered 

 land in the State is 4,585,012. Benton, Starke 

 and Newton Counties show the smallest acre- 

 age, and Harrison County has the largest in the 

 State. 



Indiana is now the fourth coal-producing 

 State in the Union. It is expected that the 

 new mines in Pike and surrounding counties 

 will largely increase the supply. Pike and two 

 of the adjoining counties are underlined with 

 two immense beds of coal, extending under 

 the whole section of that country. One of these 

 seams runs from three to four feet and the 

 other from seven to ten feet in thickness. The 

 coal of this new district is not of the best quali- 

 ty, but will compare very favorably with other 

 coals of the State. The seam is generally level. 

 Most of the openings are drifts. The seams 

 are reached in some places by slopes, and in 

 a few places shafts are sunk. The region is 

 crossed by the New Albany and St. Louis Air- 

 Line and the Evansville and Indianapolis Rail- 

 roads, and some of the coal has already been 

 shipped to St. Louis markets. 



The Bureau of Statistics has compiled a very 

 full report upon the mineral resources of Indi- 

 ana, from which the following comparative 

 summary for the years 1881 and 182 is 

 taken : 



A remarkable decrease is shown in the 

 quantity of coal and fire-clay produced, and 

 the amount of sandstone quarried is largely in 

 excess of the year previous. 



The following statistics of poultry are given : 



The statistics of eggs include the production 

 from all kinds of fowls ; the feathers are only 

 those picked from geese. 



The Bureau of Statistics has also completed 

 some interesting figures as to the churches of 

 the State. The total number of church-build- 

 ings in the State is 4,462, and of church or- 

 ganizations 4, 921. The number of members ad- 



