To His Excellency, 



JOSEPH F. JOHNSTON, 



Governor of Alabama. 



DEAR SIR : I have the honor to submit herewith, as part of my 

 biennial report, 1898-9, a report upon the clays of Alabama by Dr. 

 Heinrich Ries. While the investigations of Dr. Ries here recorded 

 have been confined to the northern half of the State, and mainly to 

 one or two formations, they yet embrace the most important and 

 most accessible of our clay deposits. The kaolins of the granite re- 

 gion lie at a distance from railroad lines, and the discussion of these 

 and of the clays of the more recent formations, in the lower half of 

 the State, will be taken up in a second bulletin. 



The present report shows that our clay resources include every 

 variety, ranging from the best of china clays downward, and there 

 seems to be no good reason why all these materials should not be 

 turned into the manufactured products, chinaware, stoneware, fire 

 brick, ornamental brick, paving brick, tiles, drain pipes, etc., within 

 our own borders and upon our own ground. 



Very Respectfully, 



EUGENE A. SMITH. 



University of Alabama, 

 March 15, 1900. 



