BiEDS OF Indiana. 523 



bottoms. In Brown Oonnty the knob topography attains the highest 

 absolute elevation in Weed Patch Hill, and the surrounding region is 

 so rugged as to have gained the title of the 'Switzerland of Indiana.' 



"In Benton county Mounts Nebo and Gilboa are isolated masses of 

 rock projecting above the general level of the plain, and are probably 

 entitled to the name of monadnoclcs. 



-'Lahes. — The surface of the nortliern plain is peppered with small 

 lakes which occupy irregular depressions in the surface of the drift, 

 and are especially characteristic of the massive moraines. The whole 

 number cannot be less than 1,000. The largest, Turkey Lake in Kos- 

 ciusko county, has an area of five and a half square miles. 



"Marshes and Swarnps. — These exceed the lakes in number and 

 extent. The smaller ones are the basins of former lakes which have 

 been .filled up with sediment and vegetation. The largest are in the 

 Kankakee Basin, and are the remaining vestiges of a glacial lake. 

 Everywhere over the central plain the divides are too flat and the 

 slopes too gentle for good drainage, and marshes abound. These, 

 however, have been largely drained by ditches." 



The surface of the State presents considerable differences in its 

 vegetation. The heaviest timber which was found in central and 

 southern Indiana has for the greater part disappeared. Throughout 

 the northern part of the State the number of large trees is much less 

 and the general size of forest trees decreases noticeably as one proceeds 

 northward. 



"Contrary to the statements made in many books, Indiana is not 

 a prairie state. An area estimated to comprise one-eighth of the 

 whole, situated, except a few isolated patches in the north western -part, 

 is marsh and upland prairie. The remainder of the State was orig- 

 inally covered by a heavy growth of oak, walnut, beech, maple and 

 other hardwood timber, with sycamore and poplar near the streams 

 and a little pine along the Ohio slope. No region in the United 

 States could show finer specimens or a greater number of individuals 

 and species of forest trees than the lower Wabash Valley. The same 

 region is said to be the original habitat of the bluegrass which has 

 made Indiana and Kentucky pastures so famous." (Dryer, p. 25.) 



