The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-27
'aA LITTLE EMPIRE IS
 COUNTY OF oOvINGION
Something Concerning This Very Important Part of Alabama Domain, Consisting of
 b47,68o Acres of Land.

U Y 4.t tons agricultural resources are lndi- vined. Plain farming Is the rule now the growing of corn and cotton. The farmers who people Covington County are southern born and Southern bred. They were originally small farmers who come from Middle and Southeast Alabama counties where they grew up in the cotton rows. They can grow |cotton herz, bale to the acre, if they SO choose. But as to truck farming they have never done 1t and they have never seen 1t done.
 Lack of Truck Farmers. I talked with L.. J. Salter as to the lands possibilities for other things be- sides the staple articles of cotton and corn. Mir. Salter is an old citizen who knows the county from end to end as he knows the way from his home to the public square of Andaiusia, Its as fine truck farming country as there is in the State and yet there is not truck farm in the whole county" said Mir. salter- Its as line "a country for raising strawberries as that country about the big strawberry field at Castleberry: yet there were not enough strawberries raised about Andalusia last year to supply the ta- bles of the towns two hotels
 Why shouldn't 1t be a fine truck country? We are on line with the truck raising section of Conecuh County and our climate and our rail- road facilities are as good. As for strawberries. our soil and our climate is the same as that of Castleberry.
 But our people don't know about truck farming. They will have to be shown how 1t Is done and where the money will come iu"
 The Covington County farmer knows. however, how to raise cotton accord ing to the bale to the acre plan. The bale to the acre farmer here is no rare individual. There Is no prominent citizen of Andalusia but who can on moments notice reel off the names of half 8 dozen men who grow bale or very nearly a bale on every acre of their land.
 Such a farmer Is Jesse Jones. few miles out from Andalusia and who came to Covington County from Mont gomery County, being of that sturdy and reliant family of Jones who live about Pike Road.
 The possibilities of the Covington County lands are shown by the farm of Sam Spicer. another independent farmer, who got two bales from one acre last year.
 Lands Lte Wetks
 The lands of Covington County, for the benefit of those who are or who should be interested in them, are simi- lar to the lands of other Southeast Alabama counties. ''They He weli.' is the everyday expression used to de- scribe them. which means that they are rolling, with no sharp hills and no pronounced valleys and level enough to hold and store up the fertilizer that may be entrusted to them.
 J. M. Snead, one of the original 5et- tiers and builders of Dothan, but now citizen of Andalusia, is great ad- mirer of these same lands. He thinks highly of their possibilities. Having been identified with Andalusia and with Covington County for the past six years Mir. Snead is thoroughly con- versant not only with the merits of the soil. but with the remarkable de- velopment of bis town and county.
 Tn my time in Andalusia," said Mir. Snead, T have seen Covington County lands advance from s1.2s and s1.5o to s10 and SIP an acre. Even now for some of the farm lands around Anda- lpsiai $20 and x25 an acre Is demanded Bnt good farming lands a few miles out can be bought for from $5 to s1o an acre. And any quantity of lands can be had if you should happen to run across anybody who may think of nov ing to Covingtou County, notwith- standing the fact that immense tracts are owned and controlled by the big lumber corporations. The Jackson Lumber Company owns 144.000 acres and the Berry Lumber Company owns upwards of S0,o00 acres: ~
 virgin timber lands as a rule are held at s17,5o or SEQ an acye. With business Judgment and foresight the big lumber companies have acquired nearly all the timber lands. With the. exception of the w. c. Yawkey es- tate the timber lands are being worked by the lumber companies. There are six or eight of the big timber compn- nies operating in this section and they pursue different policies. Some of them hold their lands after the timber has been cut, while others put them on the market as soon as the timber has been harvested. As rule, however. the farmer in Covington County fol- lows the saw mill very closely. He is close behind to take up the land as soon as the timber men have done their work
 The \Homestead Lands.
 There are scores of people in Gov .ington County interested in the bill Congressman Wiley is urging for the benefit of Southeast Alabama home steaders You see the situation is this way: When the old Mobile and Gi- rard was first Duilt--it Is a branch of the Central now-large grants of pub lic land were made to the promoters as A bonus for the work of develop ment. These grants were not taken up nor were they marked out. Many people. in good faith, came in and lands on these grants, be- lieving that they were public lands. Some of the best people we have about were among these homc- steaders.
 Now the Wiley bill seeks to prevent these people from suffering the loss of their years of labor and industry. It provides that these homesteaders shall keep their iand while the owners of the railroad grants shall be given oth- CT public lands.''
 The, lumber industry in Covington County is in the ascendant. In this it differs from most of the South Ala bama counties in which the forests have been so depleted that the indus try is far short of what 1t was five or six years back. But in Covington 1t Is important enough to be a source of strength and of revenue to the whole It is an industry as 1t Is conducted in Covington County, you are told which. unlike cotton, furnishes a crop all the year around
 The big companies engaged in the business hereabouts are the Jackson Lumber Company, FIorala: the Fiorala Saw. Mill Company. F'lorala the Lake Lumber Company. Florala; the Berry Lumber Company. Foley: the Tender