The Van Buren press., 1869-08-03
The Van Buren, Press.
VAN BUREN,, ARKANSAS.
Agricultural and Mechanical Society.

The subject is, to us, at least, as citi-
zens of Crawford county, one OF vital
Interest. The field is wide one, and
the subject too vast to be comprehendcd
In the limited space allotted me in this
short article
An abler pen than mins might fail to
present in a single article all the valuable
resources of Crawford county; yet /
shall endeavor to call your attention to a
few of the most important and leave the
balance to some more competent writer
in the future Of our progress. The area
of Crawford county, In her present linn
its, contains about $50 square miles, or
460, 900 acres of land Its entire south
ern boundary being swept by the Arkan-
sa. river, with its broad belt of vastly
fertile bottoms, amounting in the aggrc.
gate to about 10000 acres, not more
than one seventh of which is yet under
cultivation On the west by the Cherokee
Nation, and through whose entire west
ern border flows that dashing mountain
stream known as Lees Creek, mouthing
into the Arkansas two miles above Van
Buren. On the north by the fringe like
crest of Boston Mountain, amid eternal
quarries of limestone and coal
When rejecting on the geographical
position of Crawford, lying between the
34th and 35th parallel of north latitude,
and witnessing the vast and varied pro-
ductons Of its soil, its adaptcdness to the
culture of corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat,
rye, oats, buckwheat, barley and rice, to-
gether with the multitude Of garden veg
etables too numerous to mention in de
tail, with melons, etc, j! would seem that
| by some mysterious dispensation Of Ma
rture's laws, our section is the neutral
ground Of compromise between the pro-
ducts Of the North and the South The
apple Of Siberia and the fig Of Louisiana
! flourish alike side by side, whilst the IA
nous scuppernong grape" that boon
Of the South, and the a" Concord " Of the
North, are equally at home in our soil.
AS fruit growing region, Crawford
county is not surpassed by any section
of the United States. 1t is seldom we
find any one section Of our vast country
that, like Crawford, seems endowed by
nature with capacity of soil and climate
for the normal production Of fruit in such
numerous and multiplid variety. The
choicest apples, peaches, pears, apricots,
pectarinos and ounces are produced side
by side on the same soil, and almost
without any cultivation. Also, the small
fruits in endless variety-grapes, straw
berries, raspberries, gooseberries, and
last, but not least important, the black
berry, that, in its wild uncultivated state,
surpasses in excellence Of fruit those
cultivated North in their gardens. Had |
time and space / should saw much more
on the subject offruit and fruit trees, but
moro anon. And we pass on to examine
a few statistics.
said Crawford county contains about
four hundred and sixty thousand acres Of
land, full sixty thousand Of which is riv-
er and creek bottom. Something less
than one-ftth Of said land is in cultiva-
ton. About two thirds Of the 400, 900 is
susceptible Of cultivation, either in an
agricultural or horticultural point OF
view. About $4,000 of the 400, 900 acres
of upland is in cultivation, chiefly in cot.
ton, corn, wheat and oats. The crop Of
this year can only be approximatinsly
guessed at, as much depends yet upon
contingencies as to cotton and cora
The wheat crop is above an average per
acre, and might be put down at 5000
bushels raised upon 450 acres; oats at
$4,000 bushels from 1,500 acres Of land.
The present cotton crop should be larger
than that of 1868, as at least one third
moro ground has been planted. The
crop Of last year amounted to about
LOO bales of 500 lbs each. grown on
$500 acres Of land all kinds Of land csn
sidered, with some bad cultivation and
loss from late picking The present
crop, under further favorable circumstan-
ces, must approximate, or perhaps cX-
ceed, in the aggregate amount of lint,
that of last year, Should the present
crop equal that Of 1865 which, as / have
stated, was about LOO bales of 800 lbs,
each, or $4,000 lbs, Of lnt--at present
prices, after dedrcting freight and char.
ges, commissions, DC, will amount TO
the neat little sum Of over quarter of n
million Of dollars; or, in round figures,
to S2j2,000 This is indeed no small
sum Of money to be paid in cash to the
inhabitants Of one county for one article
alone The number of bushels Of corn
raised last year may be safely put
down at 100000 bushels, or about one
half of the amount raised in the year
1860, as appears on the census list. The
present year crop, with very little more
Al. l., "a