Year: 1877

WITT's SPRINGS, SEARcY Co.,, ARK.,l

 August 12, 1877.

 To the Editor of the DEMOCRAT:

 wish to write an article to your valuable paper, concerning this part of the country. In the first place, l am not a newspaper writer, and to see man from this part writing to a newspaper, would be as the voice of a man crying in the wilderness, tho the cry must be made, and the voice must be heard, before we can have immigration here.

 This part of the country lies on top of the Boston Mountain; on this crossing the mountain is called 12 miles wide from the head of the mid dlc fork of the bayou to lower rich land; wehave nlce country up here, and good land; we have the best lot of timber that can be found in the State; it consists of white and black oaks, some pine, hickory and black gum; the undergrowth is oak, dog wood, maple, hickory, and saryace.

 This part is entirely grain coun- try; we can raise from 20 to 0bush- els of corn per acre; and from 10 to 20 bushels of wheat per acre, with out manure; oats, rye, barley does equally as we'll; grass and clover do finely, and as for vegetables, of all kinds, we can almost beat the world, and that will compare with any State North or South.

 I believe if the people would come here and settle up this mountain we could raise vegetables enough to sup ply the state of Arkansas. Stock of all kinds does we'll here; we have a large range here and will have as long as time lasts, for we have some lands that can't be settled nor cuiti- vated; stock range hogs can live here without any iced from one year till the next; we generally have . good mast here, the white oak will last all through the fall season, then the blackoak will last from that till March; then the sarvace berry comes in, next the huckleberry from that the harvest field and then the chinquapiL and acorn again. This is also fine range for sheep ana cat tie; rich weeds grow all through the woods which are very nutricious for stock. We never have any disease among stock; the hog cholera is un- known here.

 Above all we have good health and good water. It is given up that we have the healthiest country hers that can be found in the West. Chills and levers and all malarial diseases are almost unknown to the Boston Mountain people. We also have good freestone water that lasts winter and summer. Our springs never go dry; they are not merely holes in the ground like they have in some parts and call springs.

 This is also pleasant place to live, it is so much higher than other parts of the country surrounding it that the cool air is continually stir ring. which makes it pleasant for the farmer to work the summer through.

 We have plenty of government lands here subject to homestead; we have thousands ofIacres of good land lying waiting for the immigrant to come; plenty of nice places for loca- tons can be found, with good springs of lasting water right at hand. We also have good society here; we have good schools and churches.

 We need a turnpike road from Harrison to RusseHville, very bad. The people arc very anxious for the road to be built. The people of Boone also want the road; and l think the people of Pope want the road, and why can't we have it? l am sure there are people enough ln- terested in It to have it built if they would lay their heads together and go to work we would soon have the road. At this time a man can hard ly get from here to Russellville on account of the road that leads down this bayou; the rock has rifted down on the lords during the spring rains so that it is almost impossible. It seems that we have no oversecrs on this road, or some that don't attend to their duty. We want the road to