The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-02-25
A SOUTHERN PRAIRIE.
LIKE A SLICE OF ILLINOIS.
A Few Facts About the Grand Prairie
 of Arkansas.
A Paradise for Horticul,uris,s.

\ few weeks aSo happened to ask an or dinarllV well informed citizen of Chicago tf he had lsad any attention to the Grand Prairie region et Arkansas, "Grand Prairie of ArA was An acre of prairIe in that state"
 That what he said and then | went on to tell him that il was nearly q handrod miles long and thirty wide. just such country aS one sees hetwcon Bloomington and spring ncid in itituui>. tt@S1GsS9 ay sascc ss.ar0@Jts, and, besides being \ drst class grain grow ing country, the best hay and stock section in America, unparalleled as a pro'lueer of Vcge- 'Tbirs ami fruits, ami to dAy the home ot hun urcUS ot thrifty farmers frum all over the west, the man loHked at mo as if hc thought was maSqueradtng As modern Baron Nun chausenl And vet eNcrX word l had spoken was cold, sober truth. No. he had ncV CT heart ot this slice of Illinois that has strayed tc the southwest simply because he had never hap, pened to read ot II in a newspaper
 For the tact Is, in th,s timc ot double quick marching trom the very cradle to the grave, the American people take tlme to inform themselves onlX ot such thiugs as happen tn be thrust upon their attention >o that thcrc are thousands of mVn Mhoss general intellte gence gots unch1lirnErd who are ignorant even ot the geography ut then own native land to say nothing of resources, products, climate and topography. People know that cotton. for lnsiancc ts grown ln Arkansas, aud cume to kind ot negative conclusion that cotton and cotton alone Is produeeahle sn that vast state.
 The older states have been for years like bee hives sending forth annual swarms to
 
 that one or another particular statc has ioomed up As prime faNorttc, temporarily Adecadc ago kansas had the call. then Dakota. and lately California. l now rise to remark that Arkansas turn Is coming next, and that right speedily.
 But 1t is not of A=kansas as c state that propose to talk, but of tho Grand Prairie region which l had occasion to visit during the month of December, and If l were not too old to learn horticulture. and could Ect tho printers ink from oh my hands, should want to go hack there and ltvc GAS l am sure might iu that halmy Climate) till should sec a score of my great grand children gathering strawberries ln the spring of say A. n. 1923
 t'rahd Prairie heglnS at or near Becbc, on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain X southern ratl. way, and runs enthusiastically tu Arkansas Post, and Is crossed by thu St. louis, Ark ansas Texas railway (thc Cotton Belt r5utel which forms a great trunk lino from Chicago and NJ. Louis Ia Texas, and hy the Memphis X Little Rock railroad running between those two nourlshing cities, These roais together with the projected Grand Prairie road and the steanh hoats on tho White and Arkansas rivers cause this region to enjoy trans Aportatian faculties eNeo0,le,i by few al tho most favored sections ut the older states. Tho "Cotion Bolt" route, which has recently been opened a standard guasc trunk line, Ia now under il most hhoral and cntcrprising mana gcmcnt that Is sparing no pains to give to the people such trans sportation faculties as cannot fail to nll Grand Prairie in n few years with the most uourshng and prosperous hUshandmcn and hortieulturists in all the great southwest
 STRAWBERRIES.
 The straw berries of Grand Prairie combine enormous size with dcltciaus sweetness and flavor, II Ia no uncommon thing. AS many reputable citizens N Ill verify hy affidavit. for thIs the most toothsomc fruit of tsod's croa ton to reach a circumference of stN inches, while thousands of quartA were gathered there last year that measured on an average upward of live inches round. The Rev. \. Q. Calvin, of stuttgart. well known minister of high standing in the Christian Cor iteformed) denominat ton, showed me patch of n single acre in his garden at that fourishing town, from which last year he gathered ntnc thou sand quarts, those of which he marketed bringing an average of ten cents quart, It Is a matter of interest to persons contcmpiat ing removal to this hortculturists' parHdise that the markets of Texas take all the straw berries that can now he raised in Grand PrRi. rie, and would take a thousand fold more were that many offered. Thus Tn addition to St. Louis. Kansas City and Chicago. fruit. growers have competing markets to the southward for late rpcning berries, W hich is an advantage not enjoyed by gardeners in the south Atlantic states.
 PEACHES AND GRAPES
 But the straw berry Is only one of the many fine fruits that may be grown prohtabiy on this prairie. Mir. T. s. Martin. who resides near Stuttgart. having removed thithcr from he state of Illinois, gathered last year seven hundred bushels of most luscious peaches