ARKANSAS 



30.-. 



ARKANSAS 



these extremes are very unusual, the average 

 January temperature being about 40 and that 

 for July about 80. 



Very little snow falls in Arkansas, but there 

 is always plenty of rain. Droughts of any 

 length are practically unknown, so the farmer 

 need never fear the loss of his crops through 

 lack of rain. In some sections 46.5 inches for 

 the year is the average rainfall, but for the 

 entire state it is but 40 inches. 



Mineral Springs. It is not only by reason of 

 its climate that Arkansas is visited by people 

 in >. an-h of health; but in its numerous min- 

 eral springs it has a far more active health- 

 giving agency. Geologists believe that far 

 below the surface of the earth the rock masses 

 are still hot, and that it is contact with these 

 that produces the high temperature of the 

 springs. Northern Arkansas has one famous 

 spring region, at Eureka Springs, where gather 

 thousands of visitors annually, but the most 

 famous health resort of the state is Hot 

 Springs, the "Baden-Baden of America," as it 

 is sometimes called. The Indians knew well 

 the value of these springs, about fifty in num- 

 ber, and spread abroad tales of their wonder- 

 ful properties. These grew and grew until 

 they culminated in the report of a "Fountain 

 of Youth," which led Ponce de Leon across the 

 world. See HOT SPRINGS. 



Agriculture. Its mild climate and excellent 

 soil make Arkansas an agricultural state of 

 importance. Its variations in altitude make 

 possible the raising of practically all crops 

 that may be grown from the Gulf of Mexico 

 to the Great Lakes. Though a comparatively 

 small proportion of the area is under cultiva- 

 tion, that part is constantly increasing and 

 yields an excellent return. 



Chief of the crops is cotton, of which about 

 a million bales of nearly 500 pounds each are 

 produced in a year, mostly in the rich, Mark 

 soil of the southeastern lowlands. Some of it 

 is of the very finest quality. Arkansas ranks 

 sometimes sixth, sometimes seventh among 

 the cotton-producing states. 



One crop exceeds cotton in acreage, and 

 sometimes in value, and that is com. which is 

 grown on more than one-fourth of the culti- 

 vated land. For the most part this is raised 

 in the valleys and plateaus of the hilly sec- 

 tion, but the alluvial region is also good corn- 

 growing land. Oats and wheat have been 

 rapidly increasing in importance in the last 

 few years. In the lowest lands, part of the 

 old flood plain of the Gulf of Mexico, are vast 



fields of rice, which produce in the neighbor- 

 hood of 5,000,000 bushels each year. Statistics 

 in regard to the rice-industry in Arkansas are 

 difficult to give, so rapidly do they change, 

 for the increase in rice-production has been 

 one of the astonishing features of recent agri- 

 cultural development. Even in the best- 

 watered regions irrigation is necessary for the 

 growth of rice, and it has been the increase 

 in irrigating features that has made rice-culture 

 of importance. (See RICE, for map showing 

 center of production.) 



The northwestern mountain section is locally 

 known as the "Land of the Big Red Apple," 

 and the excellent product of that region has 

 become widely known. Apples are not the 

 only fruit that thrives there, however; the 

 peach crop is even more valuable, and in some 

 years only California surpasses Arkansas in 

 the production of that fruit. Strawberries, too, 

 are extensively cultivated, the "patches" yield- 

 ing over 12,000,000 quarts a year. 



Stock -Raising. For a long time compara- 

 tively little attention was paid to this indus- 

 try, despite the fact that the stretches of 

 grazing lands, the large corn-supply and the 

 everywhere-present springs and streams offered 

 the best of opportunities. Recently, however, 

 stock-raising has been growing in importance, 

 and as a result forage crops of many sorts 

 have become more and more widely spread. 

 Now there are over a million cattle and hun- 

 dreds of thousands of mules and sheep within 

 the borders of the state. In 1913 there were 

 more than 1,500,000 swine. The finer breeds 

 of hogs thrive as well on the acorns with 

 which the forest areas abound as do the 

 "razor-backs," and hog-raising can be carried 

 on very cheaply. 



Forests and Lumbering. Arkansas is one of 

 the most heavily wooded of all the states, 

 about tint i -fourths of its area being yet m 

 forests. Both hard and soft woods are to be 

 found here: oak, cedar, the valuable black 

 walnut, cypress, pine of various species, b< 

 red gum, maple and hickory are abundant, and 

 the hardwoods vie with those of any other 

 state in quality and value. Despite the great 

 area of its forests the state has recognized the 

 need for economy and has taken measures to 

 prevent the deforesting of large tracts. One 

 National Forest containing 1,073,055 acres 

 already baa been set aside in the western sec- 

 tion, and another is to be established in the 

 Osark region. 



Manufactures. With this vast supply of tim- 



