182 THE ALABAMA OPPORTUNITY. 



Mineral District. It is the main farming region of the State 

 and contains besides a good proportion of the timber res■ou^•^ 

 ces. The only mineral products likely to be of economic im- 

 portance are the clays, limestones for Portland cement, ochres 

 and the marls, including the phosphatic marls. 



Clays and Ochres. — Along the line which divides the Min- 

 eral from the Agricultural districts, are some important de- 

 posits of clays which have the same physical characteristics as 

 well as the same geological position as the clays of New Jer- 

 sey, which have a world-wide reputation. As yet there are no 

 openings' in these clays except in one or two places, near Wood- 

 stock in Bibb county, near Coosada in Elmore, about Tusca- 

 loosa, and a point or two along the Kansas City road in Fay- 

 ette and Lamar. At best very little has been done towards 

 proving up the quality of the clays. Those taken from near 

 Vv'oodstock are sent to Bessemer for mixing with imported 

 clays' in the making of fire-brick. Several days ago the clays 

 from the vicinity of Tuscaloosa were used in the manufacture 

 of wares o£ various kinds. There are also similar pottery 

 works in Fayette and Lamar counties, but the systematic and 

 thorough proving of the capabilities of these clays remains' yet 

 to be done. Near Coosada station on the L. & N. R. R.. not 

 far north of "Montgomery, clay has been worked for several 

 years and, along with the clays, a yellow ochre. 



In Bulletin No. 6 of the Geological Survey will be found 

 a fairly adequate account of the clays of the State by Dr. H. 

 Ries of Cornell University, one of the leading clay experts of 

 the country. 



Marls and Phosphates. — Along both the northern and south- 

 ern border of the Prairie region or Black Belt of the cen- 

 tral part of the State, where the limestones come in contact 

 with the sandy lands, there are beds of phosphatic marl av- 

 eraging some five or six feet in thickness, and having a per- 

 centage of phosphoric acid running up as high as 5 per cent. 



These marls' are precisely like those of New Jersey, both as 

 to chemical and physical qualities, and as to geological position, 

 and there is no reason, except the apathy of our farmers, why 

 these marls should not in Alabama work the miracle that 

 they have in New Jersey, i. e., turn our wornout fields into 

 garden spots. Some little testing has been done at Coatopa, 



