The age-herald., 1900-08-05

with one arm 10 New Of1eanS and tne otner to Mobile. At these ports it connects with steamers for Mexico, South America, Cuba, Porto Rico Liverpool and Europe. s
 Topography
 Coming south over the line of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, the first important town or station in Mississippi is corinth, an im- portant railroad center. This town, having been the scene of some very important battles during the late war, has historic associations which attract a great many visitors from the north and west. South of Corinth the railroad Is located for the most part on the lower levels, and the val leys of the streams, and the observer from the car windows forms a very erroneous impression in consequence. Away from the railroad the country is high and rolling. and we'll adapted for fruit growing and general farming.
 At Bonneville Baldwyn, Tupelo and sev- eral other points between Corinth and OkolonA, Miss, quite 8 number of north ern people have settled, and some valuable and attractive lands are to be obtained. From OkoIona, south to Macon, the line of the road passes through what is known as the ''northeastern prairie belt of Mis- sissippi,s in which the soil is strong black loam mderlaid with rotten limestone, and the country for the most part is high and rolling and naturally we'll drained. It is nearly all held by private owners in large tracts, formerly old plantations, but can now be obtained in small tracts from the numerous real estate firms located at Oko- loma, Aberdeen, West Point, Columbus and at to $2o per acre.
 As clover and many of the cultivated grasses, on which northern farmers rely, can be grown on these lands, this section of country is admirably adapted to stock raising and the production of grains and grasses. By deep blowing, tile draining and the use of clover, the lands in this prairie belt can be brought back to a state of fertility fully equal to that of the best lands in Illinois. This prairie section of Mississippi enjoys unusual railroad faeil- ties; in addition to the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham the Illinois Central and the Southern system all pass through the sec ..., Of country described, and afford out lets for it's products to all portions of the United States and to the Gulf ports
 Flat Woods Belt
 South of Macon, Miss, and between that point and Sucarnochee, is located what is known as the "F1at Woods, or Post Oak Country" in which the soil is for the most part a heavy, stiff clay, having a. con- siderable percentage of lime in 1t. There are considerable areas of very fertile and productive lands in this section of the coun- try, most of which, however, have been in cultivation number of years, but are still valuable, and under a proper system of farming could be cultivated with great profit. The principal timber growth is hard wood, the various varieties of oak, hickory, etc., with some slight admixture of short leaf pine.
 Prairie Belt South of Sucarnochee, and extending to the vicinity of Waynesboro, Miss, the road passes through what Is known as the Gen. tral Prairie Belt" in which, although the predominating growth is long leaf pine, there is a great variety of soils and timber or forest growtts The country is high and rolling, we'll drained and watered by numerous large streams having rapid fall, many of them affording valuable water powers. The land throughout this section Is capable of great production and admir- ably adapted to nearly all the crops most valuable in the south, including cotton, tobacco, most of the cereals, and all of the more valuable fruits.
 Long Leaf Pine Belt
 South of Waynesboro. and from that point to the Gulf at Mobile, Ala, the line n ha tl,o Leaf Pine Belt" timbered almost entirely with the valuable timber from which it derives it's name. In this territory are To- cated most of the important saw mills, and the output of lumber and naval stores is very large. These lands, for many years, were considered of little value for agricul- tural purposes, bu under the intensive sys- tenn of farmns which has developed within the last fifteen or twenty years it has been found, that on account of the earliness with which both vegetables and fruits can be produced and shipped to northern mar kets, the ease with which the soil can be , cultivated and the rapidity with which it can be improved in character by proper fertilizing, blowing under green crops, etc., this section of the country pays larger re- turns to the intelligent, industrious agri- | culturist than any part of the country tri- buary to he Mobile and Ohio Railroad
 Water The pine belt is a high, rolling country, l having an altitude above tidewater of be- tween and 300 feet. It is watered by the greatest abundance of running streams of pure, free stone water, having rapid fall and fed by numerous springs. insuring a bountiful supply all the year.
 Climate That the lower Gulf states do not suf- fer from the extremes of heat which are quite common in the northern states may seem an exaggeration, yet it is neverthe- less the fact. The summer or period of warm weather, in the south is much longer, and covers not only the early spring months but the early fall months as we'll Going back over period of twenty-four years,