NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2239 



by both whites and negroes, and are brought into ware- 

 houses and sold to shippers, much as cotton is sold. 

 The smilax is carefully packed into light wooden boxes 

 and shipped to northern cities. The season for shipping 

 this evergreen comes just before Christmas, and holly 

 is also gathered at the same time and shipped North. 



In the Black Belt section (Fig. 2518, Area No. 3), 

 a heavier type of soil is found. A few attempts at fruit- 

 growing have been made but none of importance. 

 There are splendid opportunities for small-fruit culture 

 and vegetable-growing. Pecans thrive in this soil. In 

 Sumter County there are many successful truck-grow- 

 ers, and this section ranks second to Mobile as a pro- 

 ducer of early vegetables. There is a large fruit-farm 

 in the vicinity of Union Springs in Bullock County 

 where the possibilities of commercial fruit-growing have 

 been demonstrated. 



The Central Sandy Region (Fig. 2518, Area No. 4) is 

 not adapted to commercial horticulture, although some 

 excellent peaches are being grown in it. The Experi- 

 ment Station is located at Auburn in the eastern part 

 of the area. In parts of Lee, Chambers and Tallapoosa 

 counties, fine bunch grapes can be grown. 



The Mountain Region (Fig. 2518, Area No. 5) con- 

 tains such diversified conditions of soil and elevation 

 that it is difficult to describe specific features for the 

 entire region. The counties of Blount, Cullman, Wins- 

 ton and Walker are especially adapted to fruit-growing 

 and there are many large and successful orchards in 

 these counties. On the elevated sites, the danger from 

 frost is eliminated and the strong soils produce firm and 

 beautifully colored fruit. The Elberta peach crop fol- 

 lows the Georgia crop and the market prices are gen- 

 erally good. Many fine apples are also grown, among 

 which might be mentioned the varieties, Black Twig, 

 Champion, Hackworth, Winesap, Shockly, Yates, 

 Black Ben, Ben Davis, Delicious, Grimes Golden, and 

 others. There are successful apple orchards at Ft. 

 Payne and Gadsden. In the vicinity of Cullman, many 

 fine apples are shipped North. The large settlement of 

 Germans at this place has become famous for its suc- 

 cessful farms, both general and horticultural. These 

 farmers grow early varieties of sweet potatoes and the 

 town is noted for its production of early strawberries. 

 None of these farmers grows over 5 acres of strawberries, 

 most of them less, but they are well organized and 

 managed and receive maximum net returns. Excellent 

 cantaloupes are shipped from Blount County every 

 season. 



The Tennessee Valley Region (Fig. 2518, Area No. 6) 

 is perhaps the most beautiful and most fertile region of 

 the state. At present it is "land poor," in other words, 

 the plantations are too large for successful agricultural 

 operations. The principal horticultural industry in this 

 section is the large wholesale nursery business conducted 

 in and about Huntsville. Owing to the original cheap- 

 ness of the land and its peculiar adaptability to the 

 growing of nursery stock, 2,500 acres are devoted to 

 this work each year. The fruit-trees which are grown 

 in the order of their importance are: peaches, pears, 

 apples, cherries and plums. More land is now being 

 devoted to ornamental stock than heretofore. 



Among the men, no longer living, who have been 

 especially influential in building up horticultural inter- 

 ests, may be mentioned W. F. Heikes. For many years 

 prior to his death, he was in charge of the Huntsville 

 Wholesale Nurseries, one of the largest nurseries in 

 the South. From the time of the organization of the 

 State Horticultural Society, until his death, Mr. Heikes 

 was president of that organization. (See Volume III, 

 page 1578.) 



Public-service agencies for horticulture. 



The Alabama Polytechnic Institute, which corres- 

 ponds to the agricultural and mechanical colleges of 

 other states, is located at Auburn. It was established 



in 1872. The duties of teaching and experimentation 

 are, in most cases, performed by the same men. 



The horticultural staff of the College and Station 

 at present consists of the Professor of Horticulture and 

 Horticulturist; an associate in horticulture, a field 

 agent in horticulture, for experimental work only; and 

 a graduate student assistant in horticulture. The 

 equipment for College and Station consists, aside from 

 the usual classrooms, offices and barns, of storage-rooms 

 and a battery of two greenhouses connected with an 

 extensive workroom, and canning equipment. 



Elementary agriculture, which is a required subject 

 in the public schools of Alabama, includes a small 

 amount of work in horticulture. Horticulture is taught 

 as a distinct subject in the ten agricultural schools of 

 secondary grade, and in the state high-schools. 



Extension work in horticulture is given in connection 

 with other work at farmers' institutes, movable schools 

 of agriculture and home economics, and in special 

 meetings for the promotion of horticultural interests. 



The Horticulturist of the Experiment Station is 

 ex-officio Secretary of the State Board of Horticulture 

 and State Horticulturist. This Board, under the horti- 

 cultural law amended in September, 1915, is authorized 

 to make quarantine regulations with reference to insects 

 and diseases attacking fruit-trees and other plants. 



The State Horticultural Society has been influential 

 in fostering an interest in horticulture. It was founded 

 in 1903. The Gulf Coast Horticultural Society, 

 organized in 1914, a branch of the State Society, is 

 devoted to the citrous interests and questions connected 

 with the specialized horticulture along the Gulf coast 

 of Alabama and similar sections of the neighboring 

 states. A citrous exchange, modeled in a general way 

 after the Florida Citrous Exchange, was organized in 

 1915 to market cooperatively the citrous and pecan 

 crops. A similar oganization to handle truck crops was 

 created shortly afterward. Both organizations have 

 their headquarters in Mobile. 



Statistics .(Thirteenth Census). 



The land area of Alabama, is 32,818,560 acres, of 

 which 63.2 per cent or 20,732,312 acres are in farms. 

 Of this farm area, 46.8 per cent or 9,693,581 acres are 

 improved, 9,444,764 acres are woodland and 1,593,697 

 acres are classified as other unimproved land in farms. 

 The number of all the farms in 1909 wers 262,901, and 

 the average acreage to a farm 78.9. [The total area is 

 51,998 square miles.] 



The leading agricultural crops are cotton, cereals, 

 hay and forage, and forest products. Of these, cotton 

 was the most important in 1909, producing about three- 

 fifths of the total value of crops. The acreage of cotton 

 in 1909 was 3,730,482 as compared with an acreage of 

 3,202,135 in 1899, showing an increase of 16.5 per cent. 

 The value of cotton products in 1909 was $87,008,432. 

 The land occupied by cereals in 1909 was 2,844,824 

 acres. In 1899 the area of cereals was 3,088,454 acres, 

 showing a decrease of 7.9 per cent. The value of the 

 cereal products in 1909 was $30,927,210. The acreage 

 of hay and forage in 1909 was 238,656 with the products 

 valued at $3,357,132. In 1899 there were 85,353 acres 

 of hay and forage, showing an increase in the past 

 decade of 179.6 per cent. The value of the forest prod- 

 ucts in 1909 was $6,308,151, as compared with $2,494,- 

 452 in 1899, showing an increase of 152.9 per cent in 

 value. 



The leading horticultural crops are vegetables, fruits 

 and nuts, flowers and plants and nursery products. In 

 1909 the total acreage of potatoes and other vegetables 

 was 150,567 and their value $9,842,784. The acreage 

 of potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams in 1909 was 

 81,099. Their value in 1909 was $4,463,207. The 

 acreage in 1899 was 60,370, showing an increase of 34.3 

 per cent. The acreage of other vegetables also showed 

 an increase of 24.4 per cent during the same period. In 



