The Russellville Democrat., 1877-08-09
NO. 2s

SOILS OI the SOUJnWeSG part OI IHc
 State. The alluvions of all the Il streams which embrace a large area of the State, are of the arabic land l in Arkansas is eminentiy favorable
 to its development. The great vari- ety of soils, tine succession of hills
 and valleys, the prevalence of springs, creeks, and rivers in every section, are circumstances which tend to produce diffusion of advan- tages rendering every district In the
 State desirable for settlement I "From what has been said respect
 ing the character of the country, it's
 soils, surface, and climate, it is ap-
 parent that there is in Arkansas but
 a limited extent of barrens, deserts,
 or irreclaimable swamp lands. Ar. kansas abounds in valuable timber in all it's sections, and the revenues from it are of the first importance,
 constituting the base of great wealth
 yet to be realized in the improve
 ment of the State, and the develop
 ment of her other sources of wealth.
 The yellow pine forests predominate
 south of the Arkansas river, covering
 about fourth of the area of the
 State, and interspersed with a very
 large variety of other valuable tim
 Der. The pine attains great size
 and is abundant and valuable. Sev eral varieties of oak abound both, on
 the rich alluvions aud on the up
 d. off
 large proportions, and are valuable
 for ship building and other mechan ical purposes. In the southern part
 of the State there are extensive for
 ests of white oak, bald cypress of
 immense size, and nearly as desira-
 ble as red cedar, IS found in great
 abundance on the rich alluvions, also
 the tupelo gum, a valuable tree for
 many economical purposes. Cabin : ct woods occur in abundance, of
 winch the black walnut, wild cherry and maple, are the most valuable.
 Among the numerous hard woods
 growing in tre State are black To-
 cnst, sassafras, red mulberry, and
 bos dare or osage orange. The
 latter used for hedging in the North
 ern States, grows luxuriantly in the
 valley of the Red River, often attain
 ing four feet in diameter. Besides these are the ash, hickory, maple,
 gum, beech, pecan. sycamore, elm,
 cottonwood, cedar, buttonwood, and
 hackberry. In addition to the fore
 going, many species of trees are
 found here in abundance, valuable
 for ornament as shade trees or eyer
 greens, among which may be enum-
 crated the holly, willow, catlep china
 tree, box elder butternut, palmetto,
 dogW ood, plum, horn bean, iron wood,
 mockernut, juniper, laurel. On the
 alluvions, in places, cane brakes oc-
 cur. Several varieties of wild fruits
 and berries grow abundantly, and
 among these are the pawpaw, per
 simmon, haw, whortleberry, wild
 plum, and chinquapin. Very little
 has as yet been accomplished in the
 development of the mineral resources of Arkansas. X
 "The minerals of the State ar(
 chiefly coal, iron, lead, zlnc, copper
 manganese, gypsum, salt, etc. Tn [ State abounds in mineral springs
 the most prominent of which are th'
 Hot Springs, we'll known for theii curative powers. In the same local , ity sulphur and magnetic iron, ant
 materials for homes and whetstones. exist in great variety.
 'sCrystals are found in variety and l in abundance west of Hot Springs.
 The great fertility of the soil is evinced by the luxuriant crops pro duced throughout the State. Got r ton IS the great staple, and forms the basis of agricultural wealth in Ark ansas. Corn is produced in all soils and in every section of the State, yielding an abundant return and rarely fails. Wheat IS also cultivat- ed in all parts of the State and fine 5 crops are produced. Tobacco is pro
 duced throughout the State in small quantities for home supply. It gives f a good yield and may be made prof . itable Oats and barley are culti
 fdLcti III ull ScSb'oiio VI tiiS 1Vs'VN1 yielding abundant crops. These, } however, have heretofore been gen erally produced for domestic use, and not for market Buckwheat yields abundantly, but it is raised only for home demand. All kind of root crops produced in the temper , ate zone, succeed in this State.
 "The native grasses of Arkansas include thirty five varieties, which 3 are unrivalcd for luxuriance.'
 3 "A great variety of fruits may be successfully cultivated here, 'includ- } ing species grown in the northern l localities, as we'll as those which } nearly approach the tropics Alp f pies, pears, peaches, plums, grapes, apricots, strawberries and other small fruits, grow luxuriantly in all parts of the State, while the fig and some other species of semi tropical fruits may also be found yielding we'll in favorable seasons, but occa- sionally requiring sheltered situa- , tions.