Birmingham age-herald., 1895-03-24
Other Than Coal Mining and Iron
 Making.
BIRMINGHAM THE CENTER
Of a Great AgrtC uItural and Timber Section,-WhiCh Must
 Make IL a Great City.


 hero who are desirous of knowing what there is to build up Birmingham outside of coal mining and iron making. If you can assist me with. an answer shall very much appreciate it.'
 The trouble is to find the starting point of enumeration of the varied industrial re- sources of which Birmingham is the nor maj commercial center and distributive point, and of which 'scoal mining and iron makingo are supplementary in i'm. portance. We take for granted the in- quiry submitted for eucidation is intended to develop the proven capacity of the state, contingent to this city, in other than the mineral resources named. This be- ing the point upon which to estab- fish our proposition that the minerals of Alabama are not the chief foundation of possible productive wealth within the state, we may illustrate with practical example, or examples indeed very numer- ous aud varied. If our correspondent will refer to the census of 1880 he will perceive that Butler county, Ohio, aud Montgom. cry county, Alabama, contained almost an equal number of square miles, and that the titled acreage was about the same and that the population was almost the same in both. He will further observe that Ohio being then the chief corn producing state, Butler was the feather in its cap-the 
 number of bushels of corn. Cotton was the market crop of Alabama, bat Mont gomefy had aot the honor of producing more cotton than any other of the counties of this state. The facts of area under till- age being approximately the same aud population nearly equal being settled, we find that more food for man was mace iu Montgomery county, Alabama, than in Butler county, Ohio, per capita; that when the wheat, corn, pork, yams, potatoes, and garden cfODg of MODtQOmery compared with wheat, corn, etc., of But Ter, the latter fell considerably short of the abundance of the former in these things.
 The cotton of Montgomery was, of course, without any corresponding non- consumable crop in Butler. The sum of the comparison is that If one price here and there be given to the total agricultural pro- ducts where both counties produced the same kind, adding the cotton here, Mont. gomery showed up about S1 ,000 ,000 hard cash in excess of Butler for the census year.
 This writer has seen 103 bushels of oats harvested from one acre, on which there had not been deposited one pound of fertil- iZer, in Lawrence county, in the valley of the Tennessee, ,and be has seen ninety eight bushels of oats harvested from one acre in the canebrakes of Marengo county. It is common thing sto see salsify and carrot plants at the city market as large as one's wrist; while turnips are there as large as the crown of derby hat--all grown in the suburbs of the city. Red clover is grown in the Jones valley, sixty miles long, of which Birmingham is the center, to as great yield in tons per acre as in Vir- ginia or Kentucky. All kinds of cultivated perennial grasses flourish on lands adjacent to Birmingham. We risk nothing in the assertion that there are thousands of acres of lands within two hours by rail of this city that are capable of rearing as many pounds of beef or pork to the acre in twelve months as any lands within reach of Kansas City or Chicago, the great pork packing centers. Our sup ply of water is particularly good, shade trees abundant, and shelter for stock is op- tional as relates to climatic conditions. We think we speak within bounds when we claim that all the prairie region, all the valley of the Tennessee, all the creek and river bottoms within 100 miles of Birming- ham are capable of rearing animals for slaughter and for draft the very best of their kind in the world, cheaper than can be done in Kansas, in Ohio, In Kentucky or Tennessee. If this be demonstrable fact then an investment calculated to make of Birmingham packing center and live stock market would pay better at rui- Ing prices Of these lands than an equal in- vestment in coal miningior iron making.
 The writer has seen larger apples grown in Blount county, adjoining Jefferson, which contains Birmingham, than any where else in any market, north or south. He has seen 200 gallons or sorghum syrup from one acre of unferliliZed land in the upper part of the state. Col. James Saun- ders of Lawrence county has we'll estab- lished vineyard of variety of grapes, growing to perfection. These facts, taken in conjunction with the advantages of climate, which favor full days work from the beginning to the end of the year, with no necessity for irrigation to reach certain results, with never sunstroke affecting a field hand, speak for them- selves. Touching the quality of live stock reared on the Alabama lands reference may be made to the McCurdy brothers of Lowndes county, to the Jersey milk cows of Madison county, to the running horse records, to the weights of hogs and beeves slaughtered, and no state is able to offset the evidence of Alabama excellence in this particular.
 Cotton, rice and tobacco, the three great exports of the agriculture of America until wheat and pork came in, all flourish to per lection in Alabama, while wheat and pork are readily to be added.
 Prof. Eugene A. Smith, state geolo- gist, insists that the mari or phosphate beds Of Alabams are more valuable to the state than the coal and iron combined. The marble fields of Bibb and Talladega counties nre not surpassed in wealth of supply and quality in the United States. Of the tinbers mention here need hardly be made, so well authenticated are the claims of the industry founded on them.
 The geographical position of Birmiug- ham IS within forty miles of the exact centre of the state. A glance at the map will show that the rail connections are very satisfactory with every industrial sec- tion or productive center.
 Referring to the census of 1860 again, it Is to bs observed that the ratio of increase in value of Alabama farm lands, as com pared with Illinois farm in the decade from 1850 to 1860, was in favor of Alabama. Of course there are all kinds of theories to account for slow recovery here and