The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1896-08-28
A BIRDS EYE VIEW.
Sketches Of Arkansas Attractive and
Varied Features.
Mountains. Valleys, Plains and Rivers
Panoramic Views which Escape the Eye
of the Tourist who Kushes Through
the State in . Palace Car.


eeive impressions quite different than
those obtained from a car-window point
Of view. Coursing down either the Cot
ton Belt or the Iron Mountain railroad
Through stretches of fiat forests, past
lumber mills and logging camps, the mo-
notony relieved by fields of cotton and
corn, with towns and cities at intervals,
he gets the impression that Arkansas Is
nothing but an expanse of wooded
level, almost devoid of scenic feature
On the other hand, the visitor who
chances to enter the state by the Frisco
road at the northwest corner and
travels down to Fort Smith through the
broken ranges of the Ozark and Boston
mountains and returns by the same
route, will get his first wrong impress
sion OF the general topography of Ar
kansas. He will tell his friends that
Arkansas is a broken country, with, of
course, some very handsome valleys and
plateaux, but largely rugged, with
much sterile land. The fact is, the sur
face of Arkansas is very much diversi
fed, as the visitor would discover if he
could view the country from balloon
instead of through a car window.
Soil and Climate.
Within the limits of the state exist
There are regions of level forest and
vast stretches of undulating prairie;
there are regions of hills and mountain
ranges, and there are regions of swamp
and overfiowed lands. The latter lie
almost exclusively at the eastern side
OF the state, mainly along the st. Fran
els and the Mississippi rivers. An idea
can be gained of the extent of nonfer-
tile land from the report presented by
the United States Album of Statistics,
department Of agriculture, for the year
1894, which gives the entire area of nom
productive land at S per cent. This es-
innate includes both mountain and
swamp lands. Perhaps as between the
two classes the ratio is about the same,
making al per cent of swamp land and
~ per cent of sterile mountain land.
These figures will be a practical sur
prise to the man who viewed the coun-
try through the car window as he
passed down the Iron Mountain route,
as well as to him who traversed the
Frisco to Fort Smith. The fact is, if
the tourist will disbark at any station
on either of the roads named and drive
10 miles into the country in any direc
ton he will experience mixed sensa
tions of surprise and relief at the topo-
as fat as a lake and of limitless extent,
he will discover that the landscape
architect who framed and fashioned the
level district through which the road
bed lies diversified the outlaying coun-
try with pretty slopes and shapely hills,
which, dotted with farm homes, form a
picture in striking contrast with what
he imagined existed there. So, too, a
drive of few minutes suffices to bring
him, who describes the northwestern
section of the state as rough and rug
ged, face to face with as fine landscape
as can be found in any part of the Uni
ted States. The handsome elevations
he will find covered with orchards,
meadows, fields OF grain; tasty and
comfortable dwellings set in enclosures,
such as king would be proud to call
his own. He will see streams of water
clear as crystal and gushing springs of
the purest water; forests of oak, wal
nut and hickory trees, with mountain
peaks forming a background. 1t will
convince him that impressions as OBJ
tanned through . car window are delu-
sive, and that notions of Arkansas as
obtained from various sources when at
home are false and demoralizing. He
will in future be both amazed and
impressions of Arkansas, especially one
who received them through a car win
dow. ae-------.a.
The Products OF Arkansas.
The vegetable and animal life within
the state boundaries varies from that
of the temperate zone to that of the
tropic. One reason given for this great
variety is the difference of altitude
which marks the different parts of the
state. For example, the county To-
Gated at the southeastern corner is at
an elevation of PSI feet above sea level,
whereas, the county located at the
northwestern corner is 2,340 feet above
sea level. Another reason given is the
diversity of soil. The mountain por-
ton abounds in well-watered plains
and rich valleys, the rolling or billy
lands, usually denominated uplands,
embracing an area of about 16, 900, 600
acres, contain great amount of vege-
table mold with slight admixture OF
sand, easily cultivated and very produc-
tive. The alluvial or valley soils, aggre-
eating about 6,000, 900 acres, extending
along the river course, contain the con-
densed richness of the vast areas OF
vegetable growth that have been accum-
ulating for ages, rich III all elements
necessary to the growth of cotton,
grain, vegetables and fruit In these
valleys are seen the splendid cotton
plantations of the state, whose produc,
In good times yielded larger dividend
In agricultural returns than an equal
number of acres in any other state in
the union. The prairie, level and pro.
ductive, embracing an area of about q.
600, 900, the grass region of the state, is
situated mostly in eastern Arkansas
though nesting in mountain-environed
plateaux are some beautiful stretches
of fertile prairie. Besides hillsides and
slopes suited to vineyards and species
of fruit trees These classes ShoY the