See Haurigot, French India (Paris, 1887); Henrique, Les Colonies françaises (Paris, 1889); Lee, French Colonies (Foreign Office Report, 1900); L’Année coloniale (Paris, 1900); and F. C. Danvers, Records of the India Office (1887).
INDIANA, a north-central state of the United States of America, the second state to be erected from the old North-West Territory; popularly known as the “Hoosier State.” It is located between latitudes 37° 47′ and 41° 50′ N. and longitudes 84° 49′ and 88° 2′ W. It is bounded on the N. by Michigan and Lake Michigan, on the E. by Ohio, on the S. by Kentucky from which it is separated by the Ohio river, and on the W. by Illinois. Its total area is 36,350 sq. m., of which 440 sq. m. are water surface.
Physiography.—Topographically, Indiana is similar to Ohio and Illinois, the greater part of its surface being undulating prairie land, with a range of sand-hills in the N. and a chain of picturesque and rocky hills, known as “Knobs,” some of which rise to a height of 500 ft., in the southern counties along the Ohio river. This southern border of hills is the edge of the “Cumberland Plateau” physiographic province. In the northern portion of the state there are a number of lakes, of glacial origin, of which the largest are English Lake in Stark county, James Lake and Crooked Lake in Steuben county, Turkey Lake and Tippecanoe Lake in Kosciusko county and Lake Maxinkuckee in Marshall county. In the limestone region of the south there are numerous caves, the most notable being Wyandotte Cave in Crawford county, next to Mammoth Cave the largest in the United States. In the southern and south-central part of the state, particularly in Orange county, there are many mineral springs, of which the best known are those at French Lick and West Baden. The larger streams flow in a general south-westerly direction, and the greater part of the state is drained into the Ohio through the Wabash river and its tributaries. The Wabash, which has a total length of more than 500 m., has its headwaters in the western part of Ohio, and flows in a north-west, south-west, and south direction across the state, emptying into the Ohio river and forming for a considerable distance the boundary between Indiana and Illinois. It is navigable for river steamboats at high water for about 350 m. of its course. Its principal tributaries are the Salamanie, Mississinewa, Wild Cat, Tippecanoe and White rivers. Of these the White river is by far the most important, being second only to the Wabash itself in extent of territory drained. It is formed by the confluence of its East and West Forks, almost 50 m. above its entrance into the Wabash, which it joins about 100 m. above the Ohio. Other portions of the state are drained by the Kankakee, a tributary of the Illinois, the St Joseph and its principal branch, the Elkhart, which flow north through the south-west corner of Michigan and empty into Lake Michigan; the St Mary’s and another St Joseph, whose confluence forms the Maumee, which empties into Lake Erie; and the White Water, which drains a considerable portion of the south-west part of the state into the Ohio.
Flora and Fauna.—The flora of the state is varied, between 1400 and 1500 species of flowering plants being found. Among its native fruits are the persimmon, the paw-paw, the goose plum and the fox grape. Cultivated fruits, such as apples, pears, peaches, plums, grapes and berries, are raised in large quantities for the market. The economic value of the forests was originally great, but there has been reckless cutting, and the timber-bearing forests are rapidly disappearing. As late as 1880 Indiana was an important timber-producing state, but in 1900 less than 30% of the total acreage of the state—only about 10,800 sq. m.—was woodland, and on very little of this land were there forests of commercial importance. There are about 110 species of trees in the state, the commonest being the oak. The bald cypress, a southern tree, seems to be an anomalous growth. Blue grass is valuable for grazing and hay-making. The principal crops include Indian corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, buckwheat, rye and clover.
The fauna originally included buffalo, elk, deer, wolves, bear, lynx, beaver, otter, porcupine and puma, but civilization has driven them all out entirely. Rattlesnakes and copperheads were formerly common in the south. The game birds include quail (Bob White), ruffed grouse and a few pinnated grouse (once very plentiful, then nearly exterminated, but now apparently reappearing under strict protection), and such water birds as the mallard duck, wood duck, blue- and green-winged teals, Wilson’s snipe, and greater and lesser yellow legs (snipe). The song birds and insectivorous birds include the cardinal grosbeak, scarlet and summer tanagers, meadow lark, song sparrow, catbird, brown thrasher, wood thrush, house wren, robin, blue bird, goldfinch, red-headed woodpecker, flicker (golden-winged woodpecker), and several species of warblers. The game fish include the bass (small-mouth and large-mouth), brook trout, pike, pickerel, and muskallonge, and there are many other large and small food fishes.
Climate.—The climate of Indiana is unusually equable. The mean annual temperature is about 52° F., ranging from 49° F. in the north to 54° in the south. The mean monthly temperature varies from 25° in the months of December and January to 77°-79° in July and August. Cold winds from the Great Lakes region frequently cause a fall in temperature to an extreme of −25° F. in the north and north central parts of the state. The mean annual rainfall for the entire state is about 43 in., varying from 35 in. in the north to 46 in. in the Ohio Valley.
The soil of the greater part of the state consists of a drift deposit of loose calcareous loam, which extends to a considerable depth, and which is exceedingly fertile. In the Ohio and White Water river valleys a sandstone and limestone formation predominates. The north and north central portions of the state, formerly rather swampy, have become since the clearing of the forests as productive as the south central. The most fertile part of the state is the Wabash valley; the least fertile the sandy region, of small extent, immediately south of Lake Michigan.
Industry and Manufactures.—Agriculture has always been and still is the chief industry of the state of Indiana. According to the census of 1900, 94.1% of the land area was included in farms, and of this 77.2% was improved. The proportion of farms rented comprised 28.6% of the whole number, four-fifths of these being rented on a share basis. The average size of farms, which in 1850 was 136.2 acres, had decreased to 105.3 acres in 1880 and to 97.4 acres in 1900. The value of the farm property increased from $726,781,857 in 1880 to $978,616,471 in 1900. The farms are commonly cultivated on the three-crop rotation system. The proximity of such good markets as Chicago, Cincinnati, St Louis and Louisville, in addition to the local markets, and the unusual opportunities afforded by the railways that traverse every portion of the state, have been important factors in the rapid agricultural advance which has enabled Indiana to keep pace with the newly developed states farther west. Indiana was ninth in the value of its agricultural products in 1889, and retained the same relative rank in 1899, although the value had considerably more than doubled, increasing from $94,759,262 in 1889 to $204,450,196 in 1899. The principal crops in which the state has maintained a high relative rank are Indian corn, wheat and hay; the acreage devoted to each of these increased considerably in the decade 1890-1900. In 1907, according to the Department of Agriculture, the acreage of Indian corn was 4,690,000 acres (7th of the states), and the yield was 168,840,000 bushels (5th of the states); of wheat, 2,362,000 acres (6th of the states) was planted, and the crop was 34,013,000 bushels (7th of the states); and 2,328,000 acres of hay (the 8th largest acreage among the states of the United States) produced 3,143,000 tons (the 8th largest crop). Other important staple crops are oats, rye and potatoes, of which the crops in 1907 were respectively 36,683,000 bushels, 961,000 bushels, and 7,308,000 bushels. There are no well-defined crop belts, the production of the various crops being general throughout the state, except in the case of potatoes, most of which are raised in the sandy regions of the north. The value of the orchard products is large, and is steadily increasing: in the decade 1890-1900 the number of pear trees increased from 204,579 to 868,184, and between 1889 and 1899 the crop increased from 157,707 to 231,713 bushels. Of apple trees, which surpass all other orchard trees in number, there were more than 8,600,000 in 1900. The total value of the state’s orchard products in 1899 was $3,166,338, and the value of small fruits was $1,113,527. The canning industry both for fruits and small vegetables has become one of much importance since 1890.
Stock-raising is an industry of growing importance, the value of the live stock in the state increasing from $71,068,758 in 1880 to $93,361,422 in 1890 and $109,550,761 in 1900. Sheep-raising, however, which is confined largely to the north and east portions of the state, decreased slightly in importance between 1890 and 1900. The value of the dairy products sold in 1899 (census of 1900) was $8,027,370, nearly one-half of which was represented by butter; and the total value of dairy products was $15,739,594.