The courier-index., 1921-04-29
LITTLE ROCK LETTER
(By Clio Halper.)

Little Rock, April 25.--The re- ] sources of Arkansas are many times thricetold tale, and yet It seems necessary they be repeated over and over again in order that the islanders and the unjust reports which are circulated about 1t be denied. One of the most hurtful of these reports was recently made current by an eastern newspaper relative to the good roads securities of the state. Unfortunately there 1 was just the least bit of truth in these reports and upon this me dium of truth was based the most i harmful conclusions.
 l Fortunately, however, there are those who are more familiar with the actual facts and who are ready and willing to present the truth as ! it should be and relieve the state of the odium that detracters would bring upon it.
 Notable among these friends of Arkansas is a Broadway broker, John Nickerson, Jr., who has just published an Illuminating and truth ful leaflet devoted to the resources of Arkansas. It is his purpose, II possible, to minimize the harm that has come from the widely quoted articles written by the representa- tives of the a New York newspaper, who came into the state and from preiudiced sources secured Tnforma- tion which was distorted in the re- tellment.
 Citizens of Arkansas are familiar with many of the facts which have been collected by Mir. Nickerson, and yet many may know them only in a casual and disconnected way. Here are few of the striking facts which will bear relating time and time again:
 Arkansas is first in the production of bauxite and novaculite, 90 per cent of the country's bauxite being produced in the state.
 Arkansas ranks third in the pro duction of rice, third in the pro duction of peaches, fifth in cotton, and fifth in the production of sor- ghum cane.
 The state leads the Union in the production of hardwood and lumber, 40 per cent of all the oak timber of the United States being found here. The industry amounting to about $150, ,000,000 per year. Arkansas produces more dollars per acre of farm products than any other state in the Union. The fed eral census given the amount at S22.04, while Illinois is next with S17.24 and Iowa, which has so great a reputation as an agricultural state, is accredited with only S14.52 per acre.
 Tn ten years the farm wealth of Arkansas increased $500 per cent.
 The corn crop of 1920 was val ued at $53, ,567 ,000 being the second most valuable crop and exceeded only by the value of the cotton crop. From 1910 to 1915 the production of rice in Arkansas was increased | by BIT per cent. The states of Louisiana and. Texas having gained only 126 per cent and 109 per cent. respectively, during the same period. The second largest industry is connected with the by-products of cottonseed, there being nearly 30 cottonseed oil mills in state.
 
 in cultivation, one quarter of which is planted to cotton, one quarter to corn, and one half to other products of the field, meadow and orchard.
 The total value of farm products for 1920 is estimated by the United States Crop Reporting Service was $345, ,666,000.
 The population of the state has grown from 14,273 in 1920 to l. 752, ,204 in 1920, of whom 80 per cent are white.
 There were fewer people in the entire state in 1920, just one hun dred years ago, than there are to- day in the city of Pine Bluff.
 From three million to four mil hon tons of coal are produced an nually in the state.
 One of the most recent develop ments is that of oil and gas. Gas has been produced for years in large quantities in the Fort Smith district, but not until the first well was brought in recently near Fl Do- rado, was it known that the state is also underlaid by probably what is one of the greatest oil pools m the world. That an oil field does exist has been proven beyond any doubt. but the extent of it has not yet been demonstrated. Wells are being drilled in probably half the counties of the state and there is every reason to believe that a ma jority of them will be successful.
 With all these material resources. there is no reason why Arkansas should not take and keep fore most place among the states of the Union.
 Friends of the state who are at tempting to say clever. things about it, should refrain from making such statement as:
 Many are not able even to To- cate Arkansas accurately without the aid of a map"
 1t is most charitable to presume that such statements are made in jocular vein, for it cannot be be- lieved that anyone, much less