characteristics in education, training, religion, and nationality. The valleys between the mountains, especially the Great Valley, and the larger, more level areas of the glades, furnish incentive and opportunity for farming communities, which are reasonably well recompensed for their efforts in the tilling of the soil. In the cities and large towns are concentrated those who serve as distributing agents for the products of the land and the necessities of the inhabitants.

THE CLIMATE

The climate of Maryland is as varied as its surface configuration, and is to a considerable extent dependent upon the latter. These climatic

FIG. 31.-MAP SHOWING MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURES.

differences are also due to the nearness of the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay. The climate of most of the state has the healthfulness common to the eastern part of the United States, and in character is midway between that of Maine and that of Florida. In the eastern and southern parts of the state the winters are mild and the summers hot, while in the western and more elevated portions the winters are quite cold and the summers delightfully cool. The so-called "climatic changes "

depend upon differences in temperature, precipitation, winds, humidity, and barometric pressure.

The average temperature for the year varies materially in the several sections of the state, the temperature of the northern and western divisions, which ranges from an average of 27° in winter to 70° in summer, is several degrees lower than that of the southern and eastern divisions, where the temperature for the winter is on the average about 40° and for summer 77°. In general, the average temperature of

Southern Maryland is 2° higher than that of Baltimore, while the temperature of the country to the north and west of the city decreases as the elevation of the land becomes greater. In the western part of the state the valleys are slightly warmer than the mountains, but are more liable to early frosts.

The precipitation of moisture in Maryland occurs in the form of rain, snow, and hail, usually the first, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the state. There are no distinctly wet and dry seasons, as in tropical countries, but careful observations show that there is more rain in

the spring and late summer than in the autumn and winter. There are also special areas where there is considerable rainfall, and others in which the precipitation is slight. The records show that the areas of greatest rainfall are in southwestern Garrett County, on the eastern slope of the Catoctin Mountain in the Frederick Valley, and along the shores of Chesapeake Bay south of Annapolis and near Cambridge; while the areas of least precipitation are between Denton and Westminster and in the mountainous counties. The annual precipitation in the state varies, according to localities, from 25 to 55 inches.

The winds in Maryland are prevailingly from the west, but during the summer they usually come from the south, and in the winter from the northwest and west, especially in the eastern and central portions of the state. In the mountainous regions of Western Maryland the winds are more commonly from the northwest and west throughout the year.

THE FLORA AND FAUNA

The native plants of Maryland are not unlike those of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and the range within the state is wider than that between adjacent areas in neighboring states. The most prominent trees are oak,

hickory, pine, poplar, maple, locust, chestnut, cypress, red cedar, beech, and wild cherry. Among the wild fruit trees are the persimmon, the service berry, and Chickasaw plum. The various sorts of grapevine, the Virginia creeper, greenbrier, and morning glory are common climbers in the state, while the wild strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, huckleberry, dewberry, and cranberry, all very abundant, represent the native small fruits. Besides these larger or fruit-bearing plants, there are countless others which carpet the ground in rapid succession from early spring until late autumn.

The animal life in Maryland is abundant, but does not show a great variety of the larger forms. Deer, black bears, and wildcats are sometimes taken in the wilder portions of the state. Usually, however, the mammals. are represented only by such animals as ground-hogs, rabbits, skunks, weasels, minks, otters, opossums, and squirrels. Snakes are abundant, but most of the species are harmless. The copperhead and the rattlesnake are the most common venomous snakes, the former being the more vicious and dangerous.

The waters of Chesapeake Bay abound in shad, herring, menhaden, mackerel, crabs, terrapin, and oysters. Among the ducks which frequent Chesapeake Bay are the canvas-backs, red-heads, bald-pates, mallards, black-heads, and teal; while the land birds include the reed-bird, partridge, ruffed grouse (or "pheasant "), woodcock, snipe, plover, and Carolina rail. The " ducking shores " are visited by many hunters during the shooting season.

NATURAL RESOURCES

The leading natural resources of Maryland may be grouped under four heads: First, the mineral resources, including coal, building-stone, clay, etc.; second, the agricultural soils, embracing the many types of soil adapted to a great variety of crops; third, the forests with their lumber and other manufactured products; and fourth, the water products, taken from the sea, bays, and rivers of the state and affording a basis for the fishing and oyster industries. To these should also be added the waterpower resources, which, although important, are less fully developed at the present time.

MINERAL RESOURCES

The mineral resources of Maryland are of much value and have yielded a great variety of products, some of which afford the basis for important commercial enterprise. The old crystalline rocks, confined for the most part to the Piedmont region between the Monocacy and the Chesapeake, have afforded the most varied mineral products. Here occur the most important building stones; the slates of Delta and Ijamsville; the granite of Port Deposit, Woodstock, Ellicott City, and Guilford; the gneiss of Baltimore; the marble of Cockeysville and Texas; the crystalline limestone of Westminster; the sandstone of Deer Creek; and the serpentine of Broad Creek and Bare Hills. In these oldest rocks occur also the ores of gold, copper, chrome, lead, and zinc. Iron ore is also found here, while all the flint, feldspar, kaolin, and mica in the state must be sought for in these rocks. These older rocks also appear in the Blue Ridge district bordering the Middletown Valley and have yielded traces of copper, antimony, and iron.

The rocks of later age, forming what geologists call the Paleozoic system, make up the western portion of the state. They furnish much sandstone and limestone suitable for building purposes, the latter also being burned extensively for agricultural purposes. There are also important deposits of cement rock that have afforded the basis for an extensive industry. At the top of the Paleozoic system of rock formations are situated the coal beds of the famous Cumberland-Georges Creek coal basin, including the wonderful "Big Vein" that is universally thought to furnish the highest quality of steam and smithing coal. These same rocks also contain important deposits of fireclay and iron ore, the former affording the basis for a very important firebrick industry.

The post-Paleozoic formations of the state, although not as rich in mineral products, are not devoid of deposits of economic value. The interesting variegated limestone breccia, known as Potomac marble, and the brown sandstone of Frederick and Montgomery counties belong to the oldest of these post-Paleozoic strata. The series of still unconsolidated beds, representing much of the remainder of post-Paleozoic time and