such general information as could be given without guess work or random 

 generalization. He also asked him to locate on a map the churches, 

 schools and stores. He then visited twenty or thirty different families 

 living in that community, to make a more detailed inquiry. These two 

 methods, which together gave him an accurate general knowledge of the 

 county, were later supplemented by the "Sample Plot" method used by 

 many timber cruisers. Certain neighborhoods or "Sample Plots" were 

 chosen for intensive study. These were carefully distributed over the 

 county to avoid the danger of a selective bias. In all, twenty-one of 

 them were studied, covering 9.1 per cent, of the total area of the county 

 and including 607 country families. 



Throughout the work the investigator received the hearty cooperation 

 of all with whom he came in contact and carried away with him very 

 delightful remembrances of the far-famed Southern hospitality. 



Topography and Resources 



Gibson County, which was selected as the type county, after consulta- 

 tion with men most familiar with West Tennessee, is located near the 

 northwestern corner of the State, separated from the Mississippi River 

 by only one county, and from the State of Kentuckty by only one county. 

 The land is level to rolling. The mean elevation is perhaps 300 feet 

 above sea level. The maximum difference in elevation is hardly more 

 than 50 feet. There are no mineral resources and no water power. 

 Several lazy streams cross the county. In the winter these overflow 

 their banks and their course is marked by swamps of gum and cypress 

 from one-fourth to one-half mile wide. Most of the merchantable 

 timber is culled out and engineers are now hard at work on plans for 

 draining the swampy areas. The uplands were originally covered with 

 a splendid forest of oak, yellow poplar, hickory, ash, basswood and 

 walnut, but nine-tenths of this has been cleared away and the remainder 

 is poorly cared for. Agriculture is therefore the chief source of income, 

 and the deep, fertile alluvial soil is suited for widely diversified farming. 



Gibson County is not, however, exclusively an agricultural county. It 

 is fortunate in having three good railroads located within its border and 

 largely on account of the advantages thus affc^rded, manufacturing has 

 assumed some importance. There are approximately 22 cotton gins, 16 

 saw mills, 13 roller and grist mills, i large box and basket factory, i large 

 cotton mill, i large cotton seed mill, and 10 other manufacturing plants. 

 These manufacturing establishments are engaged in converting the 

 products of farm and forest into a form available for use. The raw 

 material is for the most part secured from within the county, although in 

 the case of the box and basket factory in Humboldt and certain of the 

 roller mills, much of it is shipped in. Gibson County was formerly an 



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