The Little River news., 1921-04-30
"The Resources of Arkan= Sas" Was the Winner in
 the School Contest

The composition in the school con- test on "The Resources of Arkansas" was won by Miss Lorene Hogrefe of Foreman, and it being sucn a splendid piece of literature the News is repro ducing it this week. The composition by Miss Hogrefe, follows:
 Tt has been said that II Arkansas should be cut off from communication with other states, she would not suffer Tor she has such a variety and such a wealth of resources, including all agricultural crops, coal lumber, dia- monds, oil, natural gas, pearls, and many other things.
 Let us first consider the agrfcul- tural crops. First, we shall take cot ton, in the production of which Ark ansas now ranks fifth among other states. The cotton belt in Arkansas includes the bottom lands of the south ern and southeastern part of the state. This region is especially adapted to cotton and in 1918 the cotton crop pro- duced one-half the wealth derived from agriculture.
 "On account of the heavy rainfall and long growing season the bottom lands of Arkansas are admirably suit ed for corn, which is the second crop of importance Rice also grows well in the state and Arkansas county alone produced $1,500,000 worth of rice in 1918.
 Among the other crops which can- not be fully discussed, are peanuts, sorghum, alfalfa, sweet and Irish po- tatoes, and all sorts of hay crops Truck farming is growing more 1mpor- tant and the principle crops are: can taloupes, beans, small garden truck and small fruits.
 Arkansas can boast of the largest the Bert Johnson orchard near Nash vile. The Elberta peaches raised in southwestern and southern Arkansas are everywhere known for their eX- cellent quality.
 Benton county is the banner apple county of the United States, and Ark ansas apples have won in all large ex- positions.
 -Four hundred dollars per acre is h pl tn an6 that and is the net production from strawber- ries, the principal counties producing this fruit being White, Washington and Sevier.
 "Other fruit crops such as black berries, grapes, gOoseberries, ets., grow remarkably well, but are of small importance in commercial way.
 Lumber forms one of the most im- portant industries in the state as there are sawmills in almost every county, and sixty trees of commercial impor- tance grow here. One of the largest hardwood flooring mills in the world is in Arkansas, and all lumber pro ducts from heavy bridge timbers to cedar lead pencils are also produced Crossett and Dierks are two of the lumber centers.
 Diamonds that have been pro- nOunced by experts to DC equal in hardness, beauty and luster With Af- rican and Brazilian diamonds are found in Pike county, which has the only diamond mines in North America. The largest stone found weighed 17.83 carats and was of excellent quality.
 Along the Black and White rivers pearls as beautiful as Oriental pearls are found and the smells are impor- tant in making buttons.
 Seventy per cent of the worlds bauxite from which aluminium is made is produced by Arkansas. Second in importance to this is coal enough of which is stored up in the hills of Ark ansas to supply the state for three centuries. It is of two kinds, bitumi- nous and semi-anthracite.
 Fort Smith is the center of gas operations and the largest well pro- duces 24,000,000 cubic feet of gas per day. It is clean, dry and odorless and high in heat production. Fl Dorado is the oil field of Arkansas, having thirty-six producing wells and opera tions are being carried on by the large oil companies. There are also prom ising prospects at Foreman, but the