INDIANA 



2954 



INDIANA 



oped. This is an especially favorable location 

 for such crops, for the celery, potatoes, onions, 

 cabbages and other vegetables raised here 

 are easily disposed of in near-by Chicago. 

 Throughout the state various fruits are plenti- 

 fully grown, apples, peaches, cherries, pears 

 and strawberries constituting the main yield. 



Though not one of the chief stock-raising 

 states, Indiana has an ever-increasing number 

 of domestic animals, their total value approxi- 

 mating $180,000,000. The dairy industry is of 

 importance, over $9,000,000 worth of farm but- 

 ter being produced in a, year. 



Important Minerals. Indiana is not one of 

 the foremost states in the production of min- 

 erals, yet it has a very considerable mineral 

 wealth. Of first importance is its coal, which 

 is found chiefly in the southwestern section, 

 and covers an area of about 6,500 square miles. 

 This is bituminous coal of excellent quality, 

 much of it specially adapted to blast-furnace 

 use, and the quantity mined each year, about 

 16,000,000 short tons, gives the state sixth or 

 seventh rank as a coal-producer. 



One of the most characteristic mineral out- 

 puts of the state has been its natural gas, which 

 was discovered in 1886 and used most extrava- 

 gantly, not to say wastefully. Time proved 

 that the supply was by no means inexhaustible, 

 as was at first believed, and the yield decreased 

 ninety per cent between 1905 and 1915. The 

 production of petroleum, too, decreased during 

 that decade, as that of Illinois increased. Port- 

 land cement is a chief product of the state, 

 and valuable brick and tile clays are widely 

 distributed. In Lawrence and Monroe coun- 

 ties a special kind of building stone, called Bed- 

 ford limestone, is quarried, which is extensively 

 used throughout the country for buildings. 



Manufactures. Where timber, natural gas, 

 petroleum and coal are found, there are cer- 

 tain to be manufactures in abundance, and 

 Indiana has an industrial career which has fol- 

 lowed every fluctuation in the production of its 

 various kinds of fuel. When natural gas was 

 discovered in the east-central part of the state, 

 for instance, manufacturing establishments 

 sprang up quickly, glass-blowing factories be- 

 ing of especial importance; and as the supply 

 of gas has declined, these have lessened, many 

 either closing entirely or moving to other lo- 

 calities. But the manufactures of the state as 

 a whole have shown a steady growth, for the 

 increased production of coal has more than 

 made up for the decrease in other fuels. The 

 state ranked eighth among the states in the 



value of its manufactured products at the cen- 

 sus of 1914, having advanced one place since 

 1909. 



In Indiana, as in Illinois, the chief industries 

 are those connected with slaughtering and 

 meat packing, which are centered at Indianapo- 

 lis. Flour and grist rank second in value, as 

 is but natural in a state whose chief crops are 

 cereals. Of almost equal importance is the 

 manufacture of steel and iron and their prod- 

 ucts, and this has grown so rapidly that the 

 supremacy of the other industries is threat- 

 ened. East Chicago and Gary, both near Chi- 

 cago, are the centers of the iron industry; Gary 

 has the largest individual steel plant in the 

 world. Automobiles and carriages are made 

 in great numbers, South Bend possessing one 

 of the largest and most noted wagon factories 

 in the world; and distilled liquors, lumber and 

 timber products and agricultural implements 

 are among the very important manufactured 

 products. In the total value of its manufac- 

 tures, Indianapolis ranks first among the state's 

 cities, producing in a year considerably over 

 $125,000,000 worth. 



Transportation. With New York and Bos- 

 ton to the east and Chicago and Saint Louis to 

 the west, and with Lake Michigan making im- 

 possible transcontinental lines farther to the 

 north, Indiana lies in the path of the great 

 east-west trunk lines of railway. There are, 

 too, important north and south lines, and In- 

 diana thus has unusually good transportation 

 facilities, except in the extreme southern 

 counties, where the surface is so broken and 

 uneven that railway construction has been very 

 difficult. The total mileage of roads within the 

 state is about 7,360, or somewhat more than 

 twenty miles for each hundred square miles of 

 area. Indiana has been one of the foremost 

 states in the construction of electric railways, 

 and interurbau lines, with fast trains and the 

 best of equipment, connect many of the towns. 

 In all, there are over 3,000 miles of such rail- 

 ways. The greatest central station in the 

 world for interurban traffic is at Indianapolis. 



Of the streams within the state only the 

 Wabash, which is navigable at flood time as far 

 as Lafayette, is of any service for transporta- 

 tion, but the Ohio River on the southern bor- 

 der has played an important part in the devel- 

 opment of the state. On the northwest, too, 

 Lake Michigan furnishes an outlet, at Gary 

 and Michigan City. In earlier times two canals 

 attained considerable importance, but they are 

 no longer used. 



