Show the tomato which Is 0 south american origin was on his list although he did not have onions he was gathering many kinds of flower bulbs such as lilies and using them in soups the indian dietary included the greens cooked with a piece of tat meat sumac sorrel milkweed yellow dock and dandelion were also on his menu he was gathering authorized by congress at the last session have mushroom and puffballs and other been completed including an earlier distribution fungi in fact the indian the indiana will have received from the govern was able al all times to give to mant in addition during the last the strangers from beyond the three henrs about 4 has been advanced to great water n revised menu the stock ranges on various and to peanut which Is now so plentifully purchase fann equipment from tills capital in sold here was considered vestment vet ment he Is now receiving returns in some instances a valuable food product by the of moc than 50 per cent indians the indian office baa lust completed the pay the american apple owes ment of to the members of the chacka baw nation the distribution of which mas authorized zed in 1914 further payments pay menta authorized this year began on augustus these will amount to to the choctaws to the more to the making in nil including the earlier distribution 9 which these indians have received in ash to the indiana in minnesota pay monts will be made under the recent act amounting to the adults competent to take are of their interests will receive their share of the mones la the case of minors and others the money will be deposited in banks to be used for their benefit under the supervision of the officers of the indian service of greater interest however Is the fact that the american indian Is not only the holder but also the producer of wealth he Is beginning to put money into the bank himself as well as having the government put it in for him this Is largely the result of a plan to enable bilm to make use of the natural resources available on alie various indian reservations heretofore utilized to a great extent by white men for their own benefit under the leasing system only last weel there were put on sale at the chicago marlet 50 carloads of cattle from indian herds in many places the indian has shown that be can not only raise cattle but also obtain the top price during the last three years about 4 has teen expended in the purchase of cattle sheep 3 and horses to stock the indian ranges the handling of these herds by the indians has more than justified the investment for example the tribal herd placed on the crow indian reservation in montana in the spring of 1914 at a cost of showed a net profit on december 31 1915 of the tribal herd of sheep on the alca rilla reservation showed gross returns in the first scar of on nn investment of the live stock on the various indian reservations is w orth more than 28 ns compared with in 1913 in addition to this increase of more than in value the indians have sold worth of stock and worth for their own needs As H herdsman the indian has been particularly successful the highest price paid on the chicago market for a grass fed steer was recently received by an indian of the crow tribe on a day when the general market value of the cattle was lower alian an other days of the gradually the original american Is taking possession of his own again he Is managing his own farm and reaping his own harvests leases of allotted land decreased in number from in 1913 to in 1915 a change tn acreage of from to in 1915 the oren of tribal lands leased was acres IH 1913 was the indian Is becoming a competitor at the agricultural fair with the white man he la rats log his own supplies relieving the government to ft considerable extent of the necessity of making gratuitous issues of food under treaties to induce him to remain where he Is on alie reservation instead of reverting to the nomadic habits of his forefathers bior Is he any longer a vanishing race the number of indians increased from in 1913 to oil in gradually the tendency toward tuberculosis trachoma and kindred diseases which prevailed among them to an alarming extent Is being checked this Is due to a medical and the improvement of housing conditions dit ions it appears therefore that the turning point in the history of the indians has been reached ills numbers are increasing his wealth Is growing and le his taken a place among the white men as the producer of wealth in a system of civilization with which his own manner of living was in direct conflict As farmers the indian has shown the walto an something worth while particularly in the rowing of corn it Is interesting to note that he planted pumpkins or squash among the corn hillocks aa does the white man now and also awed beans where the vines could twine them wea about the cornstalks corn stalks A in one of the passages from the description of the raid made by general sullivan on the rive nations in his memorable punitive expedition during the revolutionary war it Is set forth that among lie rows of corn were found cucumbers and watermelons water melons so delicious that the raiders sat down to eat of them even though the hour was two in the morning the indians introduced melons of all ands from southern and by extreme care adapted them to northern temperatures it was after the advent of columbus that tho indians of this continent became proficient in the cultivation of the irish potato the tuber was brought from the andean heights by spanish adventurers and was introduced in the southern part of the united states before the american revolution however the indian experts were developing ve mani varieties of it and the iroquois were especially proficient as growers of the root of which there are about varieties potato meal was originally an indian product bams yams and sweet potatoes were raised in abundance the indian farmer also raised many kinds of vegetables and was experimenting with many others before the advent of the european races much to the care of the indian farmers for the it was not unusual indian was nn able years ago for indian orchards to have trees all of which had been duly pruned and cultivated by the people we are prone to regard as nomadic savages to the world the indian introduced such fruits as the persimmon the pawpaw the pineapple and the virginia strawberry primitive as the manual part of the farming of the indians may seem their agriculture did very well with the facilities which were available science points strongly to the theory that the horse had its origin in this western world but the animal disappeared many afons before the aborigines appeared the indian had neither horses nor bullocks and bad he developed a plow he would have had no animals to draw it he had no wheels raises or such devices or the wheel had never been in use among primitive races of the americans the dog drawn litter or travels was about as near ns the indian ever got to a wagon ills agricultural implements were few and simple what with his hoe and mattock his willow rale and his planting stick he had run the gamut of tools what he lacked in equipment he made up in enthusiasm and skill |