The Mena weekly star., 1911-08-31
"The Twenty=Fifth Star
ESSAY ON ARKANSAS

tative southern crops predominate in the other.
 Arkansas holds tho fifth place i'll the production of cotton, producing about 100000 bales per year. Corn, wheat, rice and oats make Up the most important cereals. Other i'm portant crops are strawberries, peas, Irish and sweet potatoes.
 The northwestern part of the state has acquired an enyiable rep utation in the production of fruits; the southern claiming the largest peach orchard in the world. There are about iO,0O0,000 apple trees in the state, the Arkansas Blacks" ranking as the finest apples in the world.
 That Arkansas importance in the matter of production may be ap- lpreciated, we repeat the following illustration; Were all the apples which she produces in a single year made into one big apple, all the chickens into one big rooster, all the hogs into one big hog, the fol- lowing feats could be accomplished: | By placing the apple upon the top | of Pike's Peak it would cast shad- ow over Tokio, Japan, on the other side of the Pacific; and placing the lrooster on the moon he could reach down and peck that apple of Pike's Peak; while the hog could with one switch of his tail knock that rooster from the moon, eat him in short order, and by placing his hind legs against the base of the beautiful 0zarks and his forefeet in the Pa cific ocean could with one root of his nose dig the Panama Canal. Indeed, it may be said that the soils of Arkansas are adapted to any plant grown in the North Tenn perate Zone, and that she certainly does not lack for natural resources. But however great and lasting may be the material resources of a state, her citizenship is of much greater importance.
 Since the day of her birth as a state, Arkansas has always been loyal to what she considered her duty. Truth, Justice and Righteous ness are her watchwords; while the motto of her citizenship is to press upward until the zenith is reached and our American ideal realized in practice. For such a citizenship we are all justly proud for men constitute the greatest of wealth of any nation or state.
 According to the last census re- port Arkansas has a population of f,574,449. These represent in the main pure anglo Saxon blood. And being centrally located Arkansas has a great advantage in that the undesirable class of immigrants be- come filtered out, as it were, before they reach our borders. We have no need to fear, for under present conditions immigration will grad ually fill our soils with people who are desiring to find well fixed homes. Every hill and valley will spring into life as darkness breaks into day; for the world is looking upon us as new Eldorado of civil lization.
 In respect to her natural re- sources we hail the twenty-fifth star as the
 Land of corn and cotton,
 Best you ever saw
 Ne'er to be forgotten,
 Grand old Arkansas.
 Land of mellow peaches,
 Land of golden wheat;
 Tis experience teaches,
 Mighty hard to beat.
 Land of reddest cherries,
 Apples, pears and plums,
 Land of endless berries
 To the front she comes.
 Blessings rest upon us;
 Love from all the girlsl
 Hail the land of promise.
 Hail the land of pearls.
 Land of peace and plenty,
 Liberty and law;
 There's not one state in twenty
 Beats old Arkansas