The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1896-08-28
degrees Of latitude practically em-
hra 10 Me- NAaAUa nnlanAs 1.

range OF products. 1t is not necessary
to eulogize state where variety Of
soil and products are SO well known.
These few features are presented TO ex-
plain to people abroad why products of
the temperate and the tropical zones
are produced almost in sight Of each
other here in the queen state of the
great southwest. Cotton is the staple
product at present, but other orops.
such as are regarded staple in northern
states, are contesting with 1t for SUI
! premacy. Soil which yields paying
cotton crop will bring forth a paying
corn crop. Besides, there is fruit. Ar
kansas fruit needs no euology. 1t has
been placed in competition with the
worlds best samples and in every i'm
stance has won the prize. From Bos-
ton to California, including even the
Chicago exposition, it captured horti-
victorious career. Wheat, oats, rye,
barley and potatoes, all staple crops of
Illinois and adjoining states, are sta
pies here, while upland rice, sweet POI
tatoes, sugar cane and many cereals
| and fruits Indigenous to southern soil
are successfully produced. The advan-
tages which this variety of soil and
range of products affords may be seen
at a glance-they exempt the tiller of
the soil from routine existence. The
farmer whose operations are limited to
practically one crop lapses into ma
chine existence. His farm degener-
ates into sort of well regulated Bot
ony Bay, where routine services is per-
formed without much hope of reward,
and after term of years every avenue
of escape becomes blocked. The
friendly opportunities which lie open
where the advantages of varied soil
exist are relief to the man who has
long desired to follow the bent of his
own taste and the dictates of his own
judgment. If he is tired of raising
corn and cattle he can raise berries,
vegetables and fruit. Or he can rent a
part of his farm and devote his time to
truck growing. Or he can diversity his
crops-that is to say. raise cotton, corn
and other grain. At least he can re-
joice in the fact that he is not restricted
in his operations to either corn or
wheat.
General Features of Arkansas.
Seated in an aerial ship an artist
could pass over the state and look down
upon views that would be wonderful
pictures to present on canvas. He would
see fragments of the Ozark range ex-
tending down the western boundary,
with the Boston range running east
ward half way across the northern part
OF the state, forming a wall of high
lands which break the force of cold
winds and protect the interior country
from sweeping billiards. He would
discover moreover that majestic eleva-
tions are distributed far from the Ozark
and Boston ranges. South of the Arkan-
sas river are ranges of the Maumelle
and the Petit Jean, and further south
W "a nv "a nz,v, L.
| Hot Springs mountains, with irregular
forms in Montgomery county and foot
| hills in Sewer county. Altogether the
aerial tourist would see scenic splendor
| for spirited sketches. At the southeast
| he would find gradual slope to the
| Mississippi river, with no eminence to
| break the view. From the southeastern
| to the northeastern part of the state
| a strip of country designated as eastern
| Arkansas, he would see dense forests,
| the finest timber region east of the
| Rocky mountains. With the exception
of the expanses of prairie in the White
river valley the entire area of eastern
| Arkansas is
Forest Covered Region,
| $4,000 square miles of which is pine
| land, chiefly the yellow variety, while
| vast stretches of lowlands are forests
of cypress. Farther north, that is to
say, in the valley of the st. Francis
river, are the oak regions, where every
variety of oak abounds, the white oak
being most abundant. Hard wood
mills are scattered over this section
i along the railroads and rivers, manu-
featuring barrel slaves and heads and
saving lumber to be shipped north,
| where it is used in the manufacture of
wagons and agricultural implements.
Meantime sawmills are cutting great
gaps into the forests of pine and cypress
in the more southerly regions 1t is
| estimated that the amount of lumber
sold from these forests annually ex-
ceeds $40, 000, 900, and as yet only be-
ginning has been made. But noun
tains, valleys, plains and forests are
not the only physical features of Ar
| kansas. It's rivers claim attention. Up
ward of 5000 miles of naviga BILE streams
are found within state limits, counting
the Mississippi, which forms the east
ern boundary. From the summit of
Mount Nebo, situated near the Arkan-
sas river about rs miles southeast of
Fort Smith, it is said you can trace
the majestic flow of the Arkansas for
upward of hundred miles. Its silver
| thread is visible here and there, wind
ing in and out of the cotton plantations
with which the fertile valley is covered.
From this elevated point they resemble
miniature gardens with their regular
and highly cultivated rows of corn and
cotton. More agricultural wealth can
be comprehended in this view than in
any other similar one in the world"
There are five other rivers traversing
the state navigable for steamboats, 800
to 400 miles, and eight navigable 100 to
$50 miles, making larger river mile
age for boating than any other state in