ich allows the tide to flood the land again and leave a fresh
deposit of soil.

III

WASHINGTON, Dec. 25.--Michigan holds sixth place among the
States in the value of its mineral production, with an output in
1912 valued at $180,062,486, according to the United States
Geological Survey, its prominence being due to its great wealth
in copper and iron. Ranking second only to Minnesota in the
production of iron ore, it is third in the production of copper,
being exceeded only by Arizona and Montana. It also stands first
in the production of salt, bromine, calcium chloride, graphite,
and sand lime brick.

In 1911 Michigan's production of iron ore was 8,945,103 long
tons, valued at $23,810,710, and in 1912 it increased to
12,717,468 long tons, valued at $28,003,163.

The production of copper in Michigan, the value of which in the
last two years has exceeded that of the output of iron ore,
amounted in 1912 to 218,138,408 pounds, valued at $135,992,837,
a decrease in quantity, but an increase in value of over
$8,000,000.

The mining of copper in Michigan is of prehistoric origin, the
metal having been used by the North American Indians before the
advent of the white man. The records since 1810, or for a little
more than 100 years, show that the total production of copper in
Michigan from that date to the close of 1912 has amounted to
over 5,200,000,000 pounds, which is about 30 per cent of the
total output of the United States.

III. Oral Composition

All three of these items are evidently condensations of longer articles.
The writers have boiled down a vast amount of material into the form in
which it here appears. The student will find similar material in
abundance in _The Literary Digest_, in _The Scientific American_, in
_The National Geographical Magazine_, in many government reports, and in
almost any daily newspaper. In preparing for this exercise he should
observe the following steps:

1. Find his material.

2. Boil it down, to the size desired, which is a most useful
exercise of the judgment.

3. Make a careful framework, in doing which the models will be
useful.

4. Get the whole so well in mind that he can present it fluently.
Hesitation should not be tolerated.

IV. Suggested Time Schedule

_Monday_--Dictation.
_Tuesday_--Notes and Queries.
_Wednesday_--Or