the; ALABAMA OPPORTUNITY. 197 



the great wealth nature has placed at his disposal. There are 

 vast beds of iron ore, and coal measures of great thickness 

 which underly the entire central portion, with a maximum 

 thickness of 4,000 feet — 11,700,733 tons produced in 1903, 

 valued at $15,000,000, placing the State fifth among the coal 

 [iroducing States; 12,876 miners and 5.230 day men being em- 

 ployed. The coal is- of that bituminous character so well adapt- 

 cf! to the purposes of industries requiring steam power, all of 

 which make the cheapest iron-making region in all the world. 

 There are also large deposits of lead ore, magnese, mica, 

 graphite, phosphates, slates, granite, limestone, sandstone, mar- 

 ble, ochre, carbonate of lead, calc-cpar, and sulphate of barytes. 

 Marble quarries are very extensive, the best marble being 

 iound in Calhoun and Talladega counties', and on Cahaba 

 River. There are the white craystalline, with shades of green; 

 full colored with organic remains; there are also iron mineral 

 springs to be found. 



The coke production in 1903 was 2,568.185 tons. Clays and 

 cements, and chalk also abound. Gold has been found in 

 northeast counties, and is being mined. Copper is also found. 



THE TIMBER. 



The entire wooden area consists of more than 38,000 square 

 miles, nearly three-fourths of the total area; the great South- 

 ern pine belt traverses the State from east to west, streams 

 being utilized for floating timber to market. A recent estimate 

 places the standing timber fit for market at twenty-one mil- 

 ilon feet. Besides the pines in the Southern low lands, there 

 are the bald black cypress, live oak, water oak, magnolia, hick- 

 orv, beech, walnut, sweet gum, cedar, and other trees. In the 

 northward, the long leaf pine is less common, there being red 

 iiiid black oak and chestnut, locust, and hickory, with the scrub 

 pine. In the Tennessee Valley are to be found elm, walnut, 

 beech, white poplar, and tulip trees. 



AGRICULTURE. 



Alabama is' strictly an agricultural State, and upon farm- 

 ing is its foundation structure. The land surface is employed 

 60 per cent, in farm lands ; the value of farm property ex- 



