TENNESSEE 



5750 



TENNESSEE 



rim surrounding a great basin which resembles 

 a drained lake and is the finest agricultural re- 

 gion of the state. 



In the western section, the blue-grass region 

 of the state, are the irregular valleys of the 

 Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, sloping to- 

 wards the Mississippi River and divided from 

 the bottom lands by a ridge of cliffs. The low- 

 land and the "Bottoms" are dotted with lakes, 

 marshes and patches of dark, forested swamps. 



Rivers and Lakes. The Mississippi, Tennes- 

 see and Cumberland rivers form the great drain- 

 age system of the state. The Tennessee, the 

 longest tributary of the Ohio, crosses the state 

 twice; with its tributaries it drains most of the 

 state, and furnishes many miles of navigable 

 waterway. The Cumberland, another affluent 

 of the Ohio, is the most important river com- 

 mercially. Winding through a region of great 

 undeveloped coal fields, it promises to be one 

 of the country's great highways for coal traffic. 



A number of small rivers drain the extreme 

 western section into the Mississippi. 



There are few lakes of any size, the largest 

 being Reelfoot, a marshy lake near the Mis- 

 sissippi, in the northwestern part of the state. 



Climate. Except on the mountain heights 

 and in the bottom lands, the climate of Tennes- 

 see is mild and delightful. However, great va- 

 riation occurs, because of the diversity of ele- 

 vation. On the banks of the Mississippi the 

 climate is like that of Upper Louisiana, while 

 in the lofty mountains the average tempera- 

 ture is equal to that of Montreal. The state is 

 in the same latitude as Northern Africa and 

 Southern Italy, but the lack of moderating sea 

 winds makes the Tennessee summers hotter and 

 the winters colder. The average annual tem- 

 perature ranges from 62 in the Mississippi 

 lowlands to 45 in the Unaka Mountains. The 

 annual precipitation is fifty inches, the rainfall 

 being heaviest in late winter and early spring. 



Sources of the State's Wealth 



Agriculture. Tennessee is an agricultural 

 state. Over three-fourths of the area of the 

 state is in farms; and about sixty per cent of 

 the population is engaged in agriculture. The 

 central basin and western and northeastern 

 parts of the state are the important agricul- 

 tural sections, and large quantities of Indian 

 corn, cotton, hay and forage, wheat, tobacco, 

 oats, sorghum, peanuts, fruits and vegetables 

 are grown. In average years Tennessee ranks 

 eleventh among the states in the production 

 of corn, its chief crop, fourth in the tobacco 

 output, and tenth in its cotton production. 

 Truck farming is extensive, and large ship- 

 ments of fruits and vegetables are sent to 

 Northern markets. The raising of live stock 

 is important, and Tennessee ranks high in the 

 breeding of fine horses, cattle and sheep. In 1915 

 Tennessee ranked twenty-first among the states 

 in the total value of agricultural products. 



Forests. The state was originally covered 

 with heavy forests, and one-half of its area still 

 is woodland. One hundred forty varieties of 

 timber are grown, but white oak embraces two- 

 thirds of the entire stand. There is no state 

 appropriation for forest fire protection, but a 

 fire warden system has been organized. 



Minerals. Coal is the most important min- 

 eral product of the state. In the Cumberland 

 table-land the fields of bituminous and semi- 

 bituminous coal cover 4,400 square miles. With 

 a normal output valued at about $8,000,000, 



Tennessee ranks thirteenth among the states in 

 the production of coal, and holds about the 

 same place in the output of coke. Iron ores 

 are found in forty-four counties of the state 

 in workable quantities, and Tennessee usually 

 ranks ninth in the production of this metal. 

 The state also ranks high in copper production, 

 in its by-product, sulphuric acid, and in zinc. 

 Deposits of stratified phosphate rock cover 

 seventy-five square miles in the western portion 

 of the highlands and central basin, and Ten- 

 nessee is surpassed only by Florida in its out- 

 put. Marble of rare purity and beauty, sand- 

 stone, limestone and slate are quarried. There 

 are small quantities of silver, gold, barytes, 

 manganese, potter's clay and petroleum. 



Manufactures. The raw materials for Ten- 

 nessee's manufacturing industries are largely 

 supplied by the natural resources of the state. 

 Flour milling and lumbering are the chief in- 

 dustries, followed by iron and steel working, 

 the manufacture of textiles and of cottonseed 

 oil. Tennessee ranks twenty-sixth among the 

 states in the value of manufactured products. 

 Safety laws regulating conditions in factories 

 have been passed, and since 1915 the labor of 

 women has been restricted to fifty-seven hours 

 a week. 



Transportation. Tennessee has extensive fa- 

 cilities for water transportation in the Missis- 

 sippi, Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. The 

 Mississippi affords communication with the en- 



