Birmingham state herald., 1896-12-13
ALABAMA'S RICH SOIL
ADMIRABLE RIVER SYSTEM-IMMENSE TIMBER
 TRACTS-FINE FARMING LANDS
We'll Adapted to Fruit Raising Genial Climate Plenty of Water Powers-ExCellent Sites
 for Manufacturing Plants.

 and grapes are produced in great abund- ance every year.
 The raising of stock has necessarily induced the raising of clover and the grasses, and thus there has sprung up new industry.
 The improvement of breeds and the en- largement of herds are on the increase from year to year.
 The great valley of the Tennessee sweeps directly through the cereal sec ton. So impressed was 2 competent ana impartial judge with it's grandeur that he pronounced it the most lovely region upon which his eyes had ever rested. 1uHe had seen all the splendid regions Of land whose fertility and beauty had made them famous throughout the Onlted States; he had beheld the plains of Texas when clad in their vernal loyeliness; the plains of Illinois, the bluegrass regions of Kentucky, the Miami valley of Ohio, the Shenandoah valley or Nirglnla, the Tennessee valley of New York, ana yet he regarded the beautiful valley or the Tennessee the loveliest of all. It IS d. Vided in twain by the magnificent river of the same name, and extends Tor distance of nearly 200 miles. It's average width is about thirty miles. It reaches from Georgia on the east to MisSlssippl on the west. In it's native fertility it's soil is unsurpassed. It is soodiy land, well watered with springs, fountains and flashing streams which gush in icy cold ness from beneath the hills and moun- tains It is walled in by mountain ranges both on the north and south, which pro- tect 1t alike from the cold blasts or Win ter and the hot waves of summer. Upon the uncleared lands in the valley and along the banks of the Tennessee river and it's tributaries, as well as along the slopes of the neighboring mountains and foothills, are to be found magnlhcent forests of timber, comprising the noblest i-,,.- Nf noly Inn k ory, and indeed all the hard woods.
 THE MINERAL BELT.
 Of the four great belts into which the state is div 7ed, the mineral is the larg- est. IL CT. ceS twenty-e1ght counties, comprising oyer one-third of the state. This vast area embraces almost all the chief minerals known to art and in many instances in fabulous abundance.
 It is idle to undertake to calculate the extent of the prevalence of some of the mineral deposits of Alabama.
 This admits of special application to stones, coal and iron. All indications and investigations point to the mex haustibllity of these minerals which lie stored away beneath the everlasting hills. Large enterprises under the aus pices of corporations have of late years sprung up for the development of these minerals.
 Besides these marvellous deposits of treasures, the mineral belt has fine forests of timber, which cover many thousands of square miles.
 In addition, it embraces as splendid farms as can be found in any portion of the south.
 Thus has an Infinite Creator placed to- gether in lavish profusion all the ele- ments of wealth and comfort known to our advanced civilzation-all the pre- cious and practical ores and minerals, the most splendid timbers, springs, fountains and rivers of the purest water, soils of fertility, and an atmosphere, the health fulness of which is unexcelled
 In conclusion. As to our mineral belt, and what has been done only in a few years for it's development, we point you to Birmingham and other places in the scope of this belt.
 THE COTTON BELT.
 The Cotton, or Black Belt of Ala bama lies directly south of the great min eral belt of the state. II extends from the east to the west, and embraces seventeen counties, viz, Pickens, Sumter, Choctaw, Green, Hale, Marcngo, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Autauga, Lowndes. Glmore Montgomery, Macon Bullock, Russell Barbour. It coveres one-fourth of the entire state. The surface of this sec ton is mostly rolling prairie and of great fertility, being unexcelled by any soil in the American union.
 The soil in the richer portion is very black, or dark color, and contains a great deal of lime. The broad prairles are broken here and there by considerable districts of timber, embracing the pine oak, hickory gum, beach, maple, and magnolia. This belt is highly favored in transportation, as all the principal rivers of the state, except the Tennessee, flow directly through it and empty into the Gulf of Mexico upon the south No sec- ton of the union is better supplied with grand waterways than the cotton and timber belts of Alabama.
 As an agricultural region this famous belt cannot be surpassed. The produc- tons are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, rye, barley, tobacco, sorghum, millet sugar cane, sweet and Irish potatoes, rice, pea nuts and peas; while of the orchard, ap- pies, apricots. figs pomegranates, water melons, plums and all kinds of berries. Grasses and clover spring up in all dis tricts that lie out, and when cultivated they arc prolific. Along the numerous streams grows in rank luxuriarce the swamp cane, which in it's native wild this belt and gave it the significant name Of cancbrake This growth is usually re- stricted to tho branches, creeks and riv- CTS, and remaining perpetually green it serves as a fresh and delicious forage to stock during the brief winters.
 It Is the custom of planters to leave their stock in the plantations during the winter months to subsist upon this de- licious winter growth. Eaten down in the winter, it readily rallies the following spring and is fresh, tender and luxuriant for the next winter succeeding. These furnish an index of the boundless capa- bilities of this favored region.
 Jubilant as we are over the rapid de- velopments made in the mineral region of Alabama, and appreciating these as colossal contributions to the prosperity of the state, present and future, yet Ala bama is far more largely an agricultural than a manufacturing state. How much we do need those industrious, thrifty farmers of the cold. bleak northwest, who cannot do outdoor labor but few months during the year: here they can work out doors the entire year and they would very soon make our valleys and hills bloom as the rose. To them we would ex- tend the right hand of fellowship, and extend a cordial welcome if they will but come to this agricultural belt of Ala bama.
 THE TIMBER BELT
 The Timber Belt lies directly south of the great Cotton Belt and north of the Gulf of Mexico.
 The glory of this section Is its immense forests, which cover uninterruptedly hundreds of thousands of acres. In these extensive forests the yellow or long leaf pine is most prevalent of all the