Referring to harvest results, particularly bad ones maybe
Richard Henry Pratt provides a report responding to questions from the Office of Indian Affairs on the needs of the Carlisle Indian School. Included are discussions on the need for more land, additional educational needs, and industrial training including the limitations of the industrial instruction received at Carlisle.
Pratt also…
Richard Henry Pratt requests authority to purchase 1000 bushels of potatoes due to drought causing a decrease in the yield of potatoes at the school farm.
Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs that due to the poor harvest of forage supplies including hay, corn, oats, and wheat that the supplies at the Carlisle Indian School are extremely low. As a result, he requests emergency authorization to purchase forage supplies on the open market.
Edgar A. Allen requests authority to purchase $500 of potatoes on the open market for students. Allen notes that this request is necessary due to the failure of the crop at the school farm.
Richard Henry Pratt provides a report detailing agriculture production at the Carlisle Indian School during 1903.
Supervisor in Charge Charles H. Dickson agrees that the school does not need to renew their lease of the Alexander tract when it expires on June 30 because the students do not use it for play or for drills. Dickson argues against cancelling the lease immediately because the school can harvest "15 to 20 tons of hay before June 30."
Carlisle Indian School Agriculture Teacher Leo Marks forwards maps or blueprints of both school farms and provides an inventory of the school's livestock. Commissioner of Indian Affairs Cato Sells thanks Marks' for his maps, inventory, and his farming knowledge.