_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.