The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1876-03-08
THn SUNNY SOUTH.

THE SUNNY SOUTH -
what I Saw parsag . s~o nonsA.' trip |
in Arkansas---Her Soil, Tim
her, Facilities for Tran 81
sportation &c.
LITTLE Rock, Arkansas, March 4th, 1878.
To the Editors of The Rock Island Argus.
In going from st. Louis south, on the
st. Louis, Iron Mountain u Southern
railroad, you enter the state OF Arkansas
near the northeastern corner and pass OUT
near the southwestern corner into Texas.
This road separates the low lands OF the
east from the uplands or mountains on
the west. The character of soil in the
eastern part of the state being that OF the
valleys of the Mississippi, Arkansas,
White, Red, and other rivers, is alluvial,
yery productive, and almost inexhaustible.
This is the cotton and corn region. pro
duciup from one, to one and half bales
of cotton, and from sixty to eighty bushels
of corn. per acre. That portion lying in
point south of the Memphis and Little
Rock railroad and between the Mississippi
and Arkansas rivers, is prairie interspersed
with timber, producing good crops Of grass
and very much resembling In appearance
parts OF Henry county, Ills The timber con-
sists of common white, red, and black oak,
hickory, pecan, sweet gum, red elm ana
ash, with an underground Of dogwood,
cow, sumac and grape vines. The up-
lands, 80 called, are that part OF the state
| lying northwest of the st, Louis q Iron
Mountain railroad and possess great
variety Of soil, gray, mulatto, chocolate and
red, with clay subsoil, and undulating sur
face, we'll watered with springs and creeks.
The creek bottoms produce corn and cotton
nearly equal to the river bottoms. The
uplands are also very productive in wheat,
oats, rye, barley, and tobacco. besides be-
ing peculiarly adapted to fruit, no por-
ton of the union producing q better
quality of apples, pears, peaches, plums,
and grapes, or in greater abundance. a
total failure of the fruit crop is thing
unknown. The forests of tie uplands
embrace white, black and post oak,
hickory, blue ash, and timber of similar
quality. Pine lands are found south and
west of the Arkansas river. and are we'll
adapted to grain. clover, fruit and
1asturage. Any of the above lands can
be purchased tor from one to twenty dol
: lars per acre, depending on location and
Improvements. The Iron Mountain and
other land grant railroads have large
amounts of land in every portion of the state
which they are anxious to dispose of to ac
tual settlers. aud will do so on most liberia
terms.
} Farm work can be performed every
,, 1t is seldom too cold for fencing, ditching
4 f1a Y,lo lam dc n
the year. Frost or freezing seldom inter
f teres with outdoor work 1t is not to,
: wet, it is not too cold, yet they have n,
, regular wet or dry seasons. Hardy gardel
seeds, such as lettuce, cabbage, radshes
d green peas, mustard. onions. &c. may b
: sown at almost any time from Novembe
! till April. Irish potatoes are frequentl
6 planted in lazy beds, during winter, 70
. early spring use. The growing vegetabl
: seasons embrace nine months in the yea
for seed or fruit adapted to climate an
). soil. Timothy, clover and lucerne are Gu
j. three or four times during the season, @
could be it the natives were enterprisin
8 enough to 10 so.
II The water TRANSPORTATION of Arkansas
:, more extensive than that of any othe
state. She has $500 miles Of navigabl
N rivers, interesting nearly every portion {
n the state. She has also 700 miles and eve
~ of completed railroads, besides others a
at ready in course OF actual construction
e. The health of the state is good, rarticg
,ee larly on the uplaEds, but in the near vlcil
ity of large rivers the inhabitants are sui
u :, ject to the same malarial diseases we {
ne Illinois passed through years ago in h
"a valleys OF the Illinois and the Rock river
II The condition of society at the preser
time. and since the organization of til
s o5 state under home rule. is peaceable al
quiet, and the people are in every wa
disposed to promote the material prospe
at ity of all, whether native or foreign settler
ar Nowhere is society frcer from high crlm,
and misdemeanors in proportion to pop,
lation than in Arkansas
During the two months | have been
III the state. most of my time has been spel
a among the natives and at their ho,aes, %
Il in railroad towns and hotels, and spe;
of them from personal knowledge. Befo
L u | came here l was told. in Chicago, by
J. ex judge of this state, that could not Ii,
in Arkansas; would be ostracised. c,
now say to His Honor that have be,
oi here-have travelled from the north to Il
y. south line OF the state and up the westel
ca border. hundred miles from railroads
= any other public conveyance, and be,
q, obliged to stop with private families in Il
y, absence OF hotels, talked with the ne
u pie freely on any and all subjects. and
must say, in justice to theu, that ha
Ut, never met with more kindness and fire.
&c hearted hospitality among strangers an
o. where, not even in Illinois as early as 1874
As for politics, you can entertain whatey
10 (oplnion you like and express it as freely
q, in any northern state.
In the above / have given brief d,
gn cription of the state as found it, endea
. oring to anticipate and answer such gu,
III tons as presume person would natur;
y ask who was looking for home In
~ warmer and more genial climate than ,
W have IN northern Illinois, and where a IN
is not obliged to work six months OF Il
az year to fill his barns, and the next mont
with pitchfork to empty them.
ECU Any person wishing more ample d,
cription OF a particular portion of the sta
nc can easily get it by writing to the land
ec; partment of any of the railroads in t
ID state having. lands for sale.
ln mynext will speak of the mineral
ne sources of the state. and of the former II
up idents of Rock Island whom found
W. Arkansas. Yours. truly,
WILLIAM s. THOMAS.
,o The Tomliason family, of Kentucky.
cD which the two Mrs Belknaps belonge
!, were rabid secessionists during the W;
w esr ecially all the female portions of it.