b THE ALABAMA OPPORTUNITY. 



in those sections over which the big saw mills have passed and 

 in which are thousands upon thousands of acres of "cut over" 

 land, acres which need only working of the soil to repay every 

 effort a hundred fold and to become in the whole a most val- 

 uable asset to the State. Nor is this an untried portion of 

 our State. In the wide expanse of this "cut over" section there 

 are thousands of farmers prosperous and contented, but the 

 number of farmers to the number of acres is disproportionately 

 small and inadequate. And again the land is offered at a 

 ridiculously low figure when compared with the prices that 

 prevail further north. 



Nor should one think that cotton growing is the only ag- 

 ricultural interest of the State worthy of mention. Undoubt- 

 edly a richer opportunity in Alabama is presented to the man 

 who is familiar with truck farming, stock raising, fruit grow- 

 ing and kindred farming, than to the man who is reared in fa- 

 miliarity with the growing and cultivation of cotton, for the 

 former has nothing to unlearn. Moreover, in the majority of 

 those portions of Alabama where inducements are being offered 

 to immigrants, there are demonstration farms, places which 

 show exactly what the land will do and places where the best 

 and most promising methods are taught. 



In the matter contained in this publication, I feel, that the 

 tribute paid the splendid climate of Alabama is inadequate. 

 The Southern portion is Gulf Coast. There is not a section 

 of the State, but in which summer heat is delightfully tem- 

 pered by Gulf breezes. There are but few weeks in the entire 

 }car, but that an active outdoor life may be lead. There are 

 but very few weeks in which the farmer finds it neces'sary to 

 feed his grazing cattle. The summers are longer than those 

 of the northern states, but the heat is n-ever so intense. In that 

 wide stretch of terriory lying between Montgomery and Mo- 

 bile, a distance of i8o miles, there never has been an instance 

 of a sun stroke. The continued cooling breezes from the south 

 are responsible for the tempered heat and the agreeable days 

 of summer, while the earlier springs, the longer summers, the 

 later falls, and the shorter winters give fine chance for rotated 

 crops on the same land in the same year. 



That Afabama is a splendid goal for the man who is looking 

 for opportunity and to whom a rich soil and an unrivalled cli- 

 mate at a small cost, is reflected in the pages of this publica- 

 tion, I sincerely hope. 



