Miscellaneous. 443 



door is in the country." To the north are the rolHng prairies, dotted 

 over with fertile farms, whose owners are thrifty and well-to-do. 



This section of the county is devoted to the raising of hay and 

 grain. A specialty is made of fine live stock of all kinds. 



To the south 'lies the Ozarks, covered with forests of hard wood. 

 The tops of these hills are broad rolling plateaus, having a surface 

 of rich loamy clay with a sub-soil of red clay mixed with gravel. 



The sub-soil is porous and stores up the surplus moisture against 

 a time of need. Where a dust mulch is kept on the surface the sub- 

 soil will furnish enough moisture to tide over a severe drought and 

 keep the fruit trees in a thrifty condition. 



This section is well supplied with springs of cold water. The hills 

 are interspersed with rich valleys. The mountain streams are clear 

 and sparkling and furnish an abundant water for countless herds. 

 Blue stem and other wild grasses afford ample pasturage for the roam- 

 ing herds of cattle and sheep. Here and there in these hills is an en- 

 terprising farmer who has demonstrated that this soil is especially 

 adapted to the growing of clover and bluegrass. Land here is cheap 

 and offers inducements to the stockraiser and orchardist. Those who 

 aie contemplating establishing sheep, mule and cattle ranches will do 

 well to consider these splendid advantages. The pleasure seeker who 

 camps in these forests will run across old spinning wheels in the chimney 

 corner and the old fashioned loom. 



Carding mills, with their over-shot wheels, set the camera lover wild 

 with delight as he takes snap shots of these picturesque old land marks. 

 His city friends to whom he shows his trophies are filled with envious 

 admiration. Morgan county has long been noted for its remarkable 

 deposits of coal, mineral and clay. Samples of these clays have been 

 sent to experts at the great clay plants in the east and have been pro- 

 nounced by these experts as having no superiors in the United States. 



There are inexaustable deposits of these clays waiting for the potter 

 and his wheel. Coal is found in heavy deposits. Enough surface 

 mineral was "gophered" in an early day to keep nine smelters running 

 day and night. These resources very naturally attracted many in- 

 vestors who snapped up the choice bargains offered them. The buyer 

 of coal land, the prospector for lead and zinc properties, the stock man 

 looking for well watered ranges, came and bought largely. Forty 

 thousand acres of Morgan county land changed hands in a single year 

 recently. But most of the investors overlooked one of the most attrac- 

 tive resources of the county — its unsurpassed soil conditions for growing 

 fruit of the finest quality. There are thousands of acres of the choicest 



