of the state, with the exception of a few northern counties. Upland, or short-staple, cotton is also grown throughout the greater part of the seaisland belt, but is being gradually displaced by the latter.

4. The mountain region, in the northeastern and northwestern corners of the state,-too elevated for cotton-its climate approximating that of the North Atlantic States. This area grows only corn, cereals, grasses and fruits.

North of an escarpment extending across the state from Augusta via Macon to Columbus the soil is mainly thin and red, with a stiff red clay subsoil, and a hardwood growth. Southward it is gray and sandy, with the prevailing growth yellow pine. This line may be regarded as the present approximate lower limit of wheat production and the upper limit of sugar-cane, although both crops considerably overlap. Corn and oats are largely grown in all of the crop zones, but are consumed on the farm, not exported.

The annual rainfall is comparatively uniform, and will average forty-nine inches for the state as a whole, though heavier in the mountains and on the coast.

In the relative order of their value, the agricultural products of Georgia (excluding live-stock) are: cotton, corn, peaches, sweet-potatoes, hay,

Transportation facilities are already ample and new lines are being constructed as rapidly as needed; concentrating at Savannah, the chief South Atlantic port, a convenient outlet is there found for an enormous export trade in cotton, lumber and naval stores.

Georgia will continue to be a cotton state, with increasing attention paid to the mineral, manufacturing and fruitgrowing interests.

The total land area of Georgia is 37,747,200 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 26,392,057 acres are in farms, 10,615,644 acres of which, or 40.2 per cent, are improved land. There were then 224,691 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $228,374,637. The total value of the farm products was $104,304,476. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $33,499,683; dairy products, $5,954,575; cereals, $20,481,157; cotton, $48,981,532.

The land grant college of Georgia is a part of the University of Georgia at Athens, and is known as the Georgia State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. The federal Experiment Station is a department of this college, but is located at Experiment, near Griffin. There are no sub-stations. The State Department of Agriculture, whose head is the State Commissioner of Agriculture, an elective officer, has its headquarters at the capitol in Atlanta..

This Department has charge of the inspection and analysis of commercial fertilizers and oils, and polices and regulates both industries. The State Board of Entomology, composed of three ex-officio members the Commissioner of Agriculture and the Presidents of the State Agricultural and the State Horticultural Societies, also has its headquarters at the capitol, and appoints a State Entomologist and assistants, who are charged with the inspection and police work in connection with the control of plant pests and maladies and with the supervision and inspection of nurseries. The University of Georgia has control of farmers' institute work, under the general supervision of the president of the State College. The State Agricultural Society, a corporate body, holds an annual fair, usually at Macon. The other more important agricultural societies are: The Georgia State Horticultural Society, The Georgia Fruit-Growers' Association, The Georgia Dairy and Live-stock Association and the Georgia Audubon Society.

FLORIDA. (By C. M. Conner.) Agriculture as it is understood in the North exists only in its infancy in Florida. The farming is various, as the state contains the only really tropical area in the United States, and many special crops are grown throughout most of the peninsula. Cotton-planting is confined to the northern or continental part. In the older

sections of the state, on the red hills, we find the same type of farming as is found in Georgia and other cotton-growing sections, but in the central and southern parts the farms are small and confined to growing small quantities of sugar-cane, sweet-potatoes, corn and other general farm crops. Some truck is grown for the northern market, but this is confined mostly to the richer moist lands. The extensive range has furnished pasture for large numbers of cattle, but this is becoming more and more restricted each year. Some live-stock farms have been started during the last few years and are meeting with

success.

The soils of the state are rather deficient in fertility, and require considerable commercial fertilizer to produce profitable crops. Most of the soils are sandy. There is a strip of red clay in the western part, but over the main body of the state there is sand, with more or less organic matter mixed with it. The whole state is rather low, the most of it being within fifty feet of the sea-level. Artesian water can be found in most sections, and is frequently used for irrigating.

The arable soils of Florida may be divided into two classes: hammock, and high pine land. The hammocks are higher sections of land covered with oak, hickory and other deciduous trees. They are irregular in size and have no definite location in the state. They may be found from one end of the state to the other, and vary in size from a few acres to many thousand. The hammock soils are richer and stronger due to the great quantity of leaves and twigs falling from the deciduous trees and enriching the land. The leaves from the pine trees do not seem to add much to the fertility of the soil.

The arable pine lands are usually light and have no clay near the surface. Should there be clay near the surface, it causes the soil to be wet; this class of land is known as flat-woods pine land, and is usually regarded as unfit for cultivation.

The rainfall is not very evenly distributed, the greater part of the rain falling in June, July and August. No protracted droughts occur, however.

Transportation is confined mostly to the railroads. Rivers and lakes furnish transportation for short distances. The high rates constitutes one of the greatest drawbacks to the development of the country.

The total land area of Florida is 34,713,600 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 4,363,891 acres are in farms, 1,511,653 acres of which, or 34.6 per cent, are improved land. There were then 40,814 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $53,929,064. The total value of the farm products was $18,309,104. The value of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $10,687,632; cotton, $2,894,930; cereals, $2,906,332; vegetables, $3,040,358.

The University of the State of Florida, located at Lake City, receives the benefits of the land grant act. The federal Experiment Station is also located at Lake City, and is under the same Board of Control. The Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration has his headquarters at Tallahassee, and is elected by the people. This office has charge of the fertilizer and feed inspection work. The state has no permanent state fair, but has local fairs at Tampa, Miami, DeFuniak Springs and Jacksonville. The leading agricultural societies are the State Horticultural Society, State Agricultural Society, State Live-Stock Association, State Poultry Association.

Eastern Tropical Florida. (By John Gifford.) The country referred to in this sketch includes that part of Florida between the Everglades and the Gulf stream and the islands, keys or cays, which extend from the neighborhood of Miami southwestward to Key West. This territory lies south of the twenty-sixth parallel, and, although difficult to

estimate accurately in area, is probably larger than the state of Connecticut.

The vegetation corresponds to that of the Bahamas and western Cuba, and comprises many truly tropical species.

The main agricultural industries are the raising

Fig. 50. An island in the Everglades at high water.

of winter vegetables, citrous fruits, mainly pomelo and lime, pineapples, and other tropical fruits, such as mangoes, avocados, guavas, sapodillas, sugarapples. Other fruits in great variety are produced in small quantities for local consumption, such as papaws, surinam cherries, roselle, carissa.

The vegetable-growing is mainly confined to the glade land. Enormous quantities of tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and other vegetables are produced for shipment north and west in mid-winter. Fruits and vegetables of this region are exceptionally firm and fine-flavored. Crops on the glade are liable to suffer in heavy rains; in fact, most of this glade land is covered at times with water.

The second type of land is the pine land, mostly covered with Pinus Elliottii. It is similar to the provision land or pine-barren land of the Bahamas. It is a limestone ridge between the Everglades and the seashore. Although there are sandy swales and considerable sand mixed with the rock, its main fault is a scarcity of workable soil in proportion to the area. In places there are almost bare rocky reefs. Dynamite is extensively used in making tree holes and breaking the hard surface rock. This rocky soil is difficult to cultivate. It is seldom that plows or harrows can be used. In places this limestone has disintegrated into a yellowish and reddish marl. Land with loose, porous rock and plenty of reddish marl or yellow soil close to the surface is excellent for the pomelo. On both the pine and glade land large quantities of commercial fertilizer are used.

The third type of land is hammock. It is covered and enriched by a dense growth of tropical hard woods. It may be found here and there on the mainland, and covers the keys. It is naturally fertile. On this land pineapples and limes are extensively produced. Also, such fruits as sapodillas, dwarf bananas and sugar-apples thrive. On the hammock land the rank growth of tropical weeds is trouble

some.

The climate is practically free from frost, the

water-table is near the surface, and irrigation, although helpful, is not necessary.

Domestic animals do not thrive in this region, except poultry, although velvet beans, cowpeas and other legumes, chufas, kafir corn, cassava and other food materials grow well. Compared with the North or Cuba, the pasturage is poor, and flies and other insect pests are at times troublesome.

The chief advantages of the region are, first, its unsurpassed climate in winter, and second, its important geographical location. The keys are unique in that they are of coral formation and capable of producing the same fruits and vegetables that are produced elsewhere on coral islands in the tropics, in addition to what the sea yields in the way of wrecks, sponges and fishes. This region has been hampered by a lack of competition in transportation. The Florida East Coast Railroad has had the development of the region under its control, and, although much more might have been accomplished had it acted on a more liberal basis, nevertheless without it the region would still be, no doubt, unsettled and practically unexplored. This railroad is being extended across the keys to Key West, a gigantic engineering project. The channel from Miami to the sea is almost completed, so that both rail and water transit will soon be available to the whole region. Lines run direct from Miami to Cuba and Nassau, and Key West is a great entrepot.

The population consists of a large proportion of northern people, of "crackers" from up the state, and of "conchs" from the Bahamas, with a fair

sprinkling of people from all parts of the world. The workmen are mainly Bahama negroes. Being accustomed to planting with a crowbar and weeding with a machete in their native land, they are good workmen, especially on the keys.

The keys, although highly productive, suffer in consequence of strong ocean winds, lack of fresh water from wells, and mosqui

toes during the summer while lime and pineapple pickings are in progress.

The line of future development would seem to be in reclaiming flooded lands for vegetables and perhaps sugarcane; the utilization of that part of the pine lands best suited to the pomelo, and a more careful cultivation of limes, pineapples and other choice tropical fruits on the keys. The northern taste must develop, also, to provide a market. No doubt the sisal and other fiber plants may be successfully grown on the rockiest land. In time, Red Ceylon and Peen-to peaches,

choice grapes, vanilla, coffee, ceriman, kumquats, loquats, Surinam cherries, carissa and other choice tropical fruits and vegetables may be profitably grown in small quantities. Among the native trees there are many of value, such as mahogany, mastic and coccoloba.

Both Miami and Key West are rapidly becoming

great tourist as well as industrial centers, so that there is an ever-increasing local demand. A large quantity of fruit is now being used by canning and jelly factories.

Much of this territory is virgin and new, in fact, unexplored. It is awaiting people with capital and enterprise. The tide of immigration to the South is moving swifter every season. It is impossible to predict the future of such a vast territory, with such peculiar and unique conditions. In no place known to me do plants respond so quickly to touches of attention, or fail so quickly if neglected.

ALABAMA. (By J. F. Duggar.) Agriculture is the leading industry of Alabama. Cotton is the chief product and the only sale crop on the majority of farms. Cotton and corn are produced in every county, as are also the usual vegetables and fruits of a temperate climate.

The northeastern part of the state is rugged and very largely forest-covered. The mountain tops of this elevated region are flat and the sandy soil is easily worked, and is adapted to fruits, vegetables and cotton.

In the eastern part of Alabama is a triangular area consisting of hilly country, constituting the piedmont plateau, or foot-hills. The soils of this region are derived from crystalline rocks and consist chiefly of either non-calcareous red clay or clay loam soils, or gray, sandy soils, in both of which loose, flinty stones abound.

The Appalachian valley region is the name given to an area just northwest of the piedmont plateau. This region is adapted to cotton, corn, and all of the small grains.

In the northern part of Alabama is the Tennessee valley region, one of the best agricultural districts in the state. The soil is of limestone origin, and the topography is slightly rolling. This soil responds readily to commercial fertilizers. Here corn is grown as a sale crop, and

wheat, barley and red clover thrive. Apples are adapted to this region, and near Huntsville the growing of nursery stock is an important business. Cotton is still the leading crop.

The Gulf plains in Alabama may be divided into the central prairie region and the areas lying respectively north and south of this region. To the north is an area of varied topography and soils, including gravelly hills, level areas of sandy loam and clay loam soil and rich bottom lands. Much of the land is still covered with forests.

The central prairie region is a gently rolling area in the central and western parts of Alabama. The soil is a stiff, waxy, calcareous clay, designated as Houston clay. It is either black, reddish or gray. Although stiff and rather poorly drained, this is distinctively the alfalfa soil of Alabama, and the area devoted to this crop is rapidly increasing. While cotton continues to be the leading crop, many are now turning their attention to the production of alfalfa and Johnson grass hay for sale and to the raising of live-stock. Commercial fer

Fig. 53. Gulf states

tilizers are not in general use, but their use is increasing. Forests of oak, hickory and ash once covered this region, but now the area in forest is insignificant.

South of the central prairie region, most of the soils are sandy. The prevailing forest tree, the

Fig. 54. Leading agricultural regions of Alabama.-A, cotton wheat, oats, corn, apples, cowpeas; B (mineral regions) fruit, vegetables, cotton; C, cotton, corn; D, cotton, oats, cowpeas, corn; E, alfalfa, cotton, corn, hay; F. cotton, sugar-cane, peaches, strawberries, vegetables, peanuts, cowpeas.

cotton is entensively grown, usually with the aid of commercial fertilizers. This is preeminently the fruit country of Alabama, and it is here that sugarcane, sweet-potatoes and peanuts are most extensively grown. The rural population of the counties bordering on the Gulf coast are chiefly engaged in trucking and fruit-growing.

The total land area of Alabama is 32,985,600 acres. Of this, according to the Twelfth Census Report (1900), 20,685,427 acres are in farms, 8,654,991 acres of which, or 41.8 per cent, are improved land. There were then 223,220 farms in the state. The total value of the farm property was $179,399,882. The total value of the farm products was $91,387,409. The values of the leading products were: Domestic animals, $34,408,932; dairy products, $6,610,967; cotton, $42,069,677; cereals, $18,424,318.

The land grant college, formerly known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College, is now called the Alabama Polytechnic Institute. It is located at Auburn. It gives courses of instruction in agriculture and engineering subjects.

The Agricultural Experiment Station is a department of it. The chemist of the Experiment Station is also state chemist and has charge of the chemical work of the state fertilizer control. There is a local experiment station at Uniontown, maintained by state funds, for the benefit of the central prairie region. There is an agricultural high school in each of the nine congressional districts. The teaching of agriculture is required in the public schools, except in towns having a population of 500 or more. There is a state Department of Agriculture and Industries, with headquarters at Montgomery. The Commissioner of Agriculture, who is located at Montgomery, is in charge of this Department. He conducts the administrative work of fertilizer inspection, coöperates with fair associations, holds farmers' institutes and advertises the resources of the state. Another series of farmers' institutes is conducted under the auspices of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute and Experiment Station. The fair at Birmingham has been assisted with state funds and the organization of a state fair is now in progress. The leading agricultural societies in the state are as follows: Alabama Division, Southern Cotton Association, Alabama Horticultural Society, Alabama Live-stock Association, Alabama Poultry and Pet Stock Association.

MISSISSIPPI. (By W. L. Hutchinson.) Mississippi borders on the Gulf of Mexico and has a fine, mild climate. The rainfall is abundant and well distributed, ranging between forty-five and sixtyfive inches annually. The winters are not very cold nor the summers very hot.

The most of the state is from three hundred to five hundred feet above sea-level, some parts of it reaching eight hundred feet. The surface is rolling and sometimes hilly. The drainage and water-supply are good and there is also a valuable supply of underground water, there being thousands of artesian wells. The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, between Vicksburg and Memphis, is nearly a level plain, the surface sloping just enough for natural drainage.

Fig. 55. Turpentine forest in the Gulf states.