The leader., 1898-10-26
A TRIBUTE TO OUR STATE
Mississippi Treated Historically and Com
mercisliy In . Most Interesting and
Comprehensive Manner.

Southern railway. Every state ana
every particular interest of the coun-
try east of the Mississippi and south of
the Potomac and Ohio rivers is treated
in broad, vigorous and interesting
manner. The author, Frank Presbrey,
has been for months engaged in the
preparation of the book. 1t is volume
which is sure to do the South an IN
calculable amount of good. From ad-
vanced sheets we take pleasure in quot
ing from the chapter devoted to Missis-
sippi as follows:
Its not possible to better express general
Idea Of the resources OF Mississippi than In the
language OF Mr.. Carlisle; This noble common
wealth is essentially and pre-emlnentiy an
| agricultural State. Nature designed and fash
| Toned II to bless and reward the labors OF the
| husoandmen. Its geological formations appear
| to exclude It from the profits OF tile mine and
quarry but what the State lacks in mineral re-
| sources sometimes transitory and always in the
| end exhaustive, Is more than counterbalanced
| by generous, responsive soil, an almost ideal
climate and productions the value OF which Is
not excelled in any part OF the L Mon. The first
| Europeans who troi its soil-ths adventurous
and romantic expedition OF fernando DeSoto-
found its surface richly carpeted with the ma
| tive grasses and maize or Indian corn, one of
| the chief TO DDS OF mankind. OF such luXuriant
| growth as to produce three or four ears TO the
stalk No State In the Union has been more
literally endowed by Nature with all the cond-
| tions favorable to agriculture. In one sense oil
the word Mississippi Is still new state, with It's
| immense natural advantages as yet mainly I'M
| appropriated. Its great forests OF valuable
| woods have been comp satiyely little depleted;
l not
| ing sites await the power OF SIKH and capital;
| more than half its area remains untouched by
| the husbandman while the part already in Guilt
| walton may be made to double Its productive
| power by improved methods OF agriculture.
| But despite the fact that general geological
| appearances seem to be against 1t, there are
| many who hold firmly to the belief that portions
| OF che State contain extensive coal beds There
are distinct traces OF coal along the edge OF the
| bids bordering the Yazoo Valley on the east,
| especially in Holmes county near Tchua, where
| tests on an extensive scale are contemplated.
But, as has beenwel said, Mississippi can waive
| all pretentOns to mineral wealth and still take
| her rank with any State in the Union in ma
| teral advantages.
The area Of the State Is 46, $40 square miles, or
| 90 95s. 400 acres, being 1888 miles wide and $50
| miles long, and with river frontage along the
| Mississippi of 257 mites. The number of acres
| used as farm lands as shown by the most au-
thortatiye statistics is 1852 ST. 6si9 800 acres
| OF which are in actual cultivation. These lands
| are divided into 1898 farms, the average Size
of which is l22 acres. The population of the
| State Is estimated to be 100000, having in
! creased from 19l 3O5 in 1860
| The surface of the State generally Is undulat-
ing with gradual slope from north TO south.
| The Yszoo Delta is not included in this general
| description, being composed of level bottom
| lands and alluvial soil. The highest elevations
to be found in the state are in Tippah and Union
| counties in the northeast, where some OF the
hills reach an altitude OF l,0)O feet; the greatest
elevation in the central portion of the state is
from 800 10 500 feet, while the surface near the
gulf coast is only from 20 to so feet above the
| sea level. All this part of the State Is well
| drained by creeks and rivers.
| The Yazoo Delta or bottom lands lie in the
northwestern part of the State and occupy one-
sixth of the area Of the State. This section has
numerous nayigaOlc streams, such as the NaZoo
Yalobusha, Tallahatche and Suniiower rivers,
and is dotted with lively and prosperous towns
| The lands of this section are among the richie It
in the whole world, and the region is rich in
| timber among which are twelve varieties Of oak,
in addition to ash, locust, gum, cypress, maple,
hickory, wormwood and others
| This remarkable section deserves more than
| passing notice. III Is very near -Snaptu
piece of land, the point of the V beginning at
the mouth of the Yazoo river about mile north
of Vicksburg, AMI running nearly to the north
line of the State, the Yazoo river being its east
ern boundary. The Delta contains 1900, 900
, | acres. Ii has good drainage, as Horn Lake,
| at the head OF the Delta, IS III feet above the
mouth OF the Yazoo. and there is not single
swamp in its entire area. Large, navgable
| streams flow through the Delta making 4 per-
feet network OF waterways. and there are
thirty ono of these that are trayersed by steam
boats of from fifty TO one THOUSAND tons burden
In addition to these, there are many large bay
Gus. which are used in floating out timber, and
these are available for two or three months in
the year. The soil is wholly aliuvial. having
been deposited by the overtlows of the Misss
slppi river during the ages past, and now that
the river has been controlled by leyees so as to
prevent future overtOws, nearly the entire region
has become available for settlement and cultiva-
ton, and newcomers are already filling the
country at rapid rate
| The Delta produces more cotton than does
| any other one district In the world, though less
| than one NTH its area Is given to that crop.
| While Mississippi may have no mineral de-
posts OF value, good building stone is found
| In some localities A fair quantity OF mari is
| abundant, and clay in many sections is well
| adapted to the making OF brick, tile and pottery
In nearly every part of the State flowing artesian
| water can be had at a depth Of from 300 to so
feet. This is great blessing to the Delta, where
| this pure water has considerably lesSened the
| danger OF Inalaral diseases.
| The climate OF the State is usually mild and
is not subject to extremes of heat and cod. The
| summers are long, but temperature Of 9o de-
| grees is unusual. The winters are cold ard
| agreeable, but temperature of 20 degrees is not
| unusual even in January.
| Mississippi, because OF its excellent natural
conditions, is one of the heathiest States In the
| country, the official statistics showing that,
| while the death rate In Massachusetts is 1889
| per 900; New York, 1870; Pennsylvania, 1892,
and Colorado. TO- 1t is but 2S9 in Mississippi,
| and this is inclusive Of the colored population,
| the average death rate of which in the entire
| South is 1928 per 900.
Facts will show that Mississippi is one OF the
best governed States in the Union. Every
householder with family is entitled TO hold ex-
empt property sufficient TO support family in
comfort. Liquor selling is regulated by local
option" in the counties. Since this law went
into effect, about eight years ago, saloons have
| been abolished in all but six or seven counties.
| Purity OF elections is assured by the Australian
| ballot system An educational and poll tax
qualification has eliminated the ignorant and
| vicious voter from participating In elections.
| Mississippi has smaller mortgage indebted
ness than any other State except three, while the
public debt is smaller than that of any other
State except West Virginia, while her total in
debtednesS is smaller than that of any other
| state, with no exceptions.
While Mississippi is the greatest of all the
cotton-producing States, It is erroneous TO pre-
sumo that cotton is the only product that can
be raised here. great variety of grasses have
been successfully grown. Corn, oats, hay, rye,
millet, wheat, rice, potatoes, peas. sorghum,
hemp and all kinds of fruit are standard crops
| Stock growing is destined TO become one of the
leading industries Of the State. Dairyng and
truck farming already yield profitable returns.
Hogs and sheep are raised with great success
| In verfcaton OF the agricultural worth oil
Mississippi the following from the pen of Mr.
S. NJ. Tracey, late OF the State Experiment Sta
| tion is offered In evidence:
The percentage of the gross earnings of the
capital Invested In farms. including land, build
| ings implements ant stock, is very high in