The soils in the mountainous region, west and northwest, are derived from sandstones and shales and range from sandy to heavy loams. Much of it has little agricul: tural value, though there are many valuable farms in the valleys. The highest percentage of area in farms, 60 to 80 per cent, is found in several of these counties. Red clay and loam abound in the limestone region, sandy loam in the Arkansas valley, clay and sand in the eastern valley, deep black soil in the "bottoms' known as °buckshot° (of inexhaustible fertil ity), and the red sticky "gumbo" in the Red River valley. The southern portion is covered by an extension of the sandy loams of Louisiana.
Agriculture, An abundance of rainfall and a fertile soil make the greater part of the State well adapted to agriculture. In 1910 out of 588,133 males 10 years of age and over, 510,410 were engaged in agriculture. The number of farms has risen from 39,004 in 1860 to 214,678 in 1910, the acreage in farms from 1,983,313 to 8,076,254. The greatest per centage of increase in farm property came 1850-60, hut the increase 1900-10 was note worthy, 120.5 per cent. The average number of acres per farm had fallen from 245 in 1860 to 81 in 1910. This was partly due to the break ing up of the plantation system or the aboli tion of slavery. There are still several large holdings in the cotton region. The average value per farm in 1910 was $1,864, the total value for the State being $400,089,303. The average value per acre of the farm is $14.38, but it varies greatly in different counties, ranging from $5 in some to $50 in others. The farms are equally divided between tenants and owners. However, 75.8 per cent of the land farmed by whites was in the hands of owners, while 54.4 of the lands operated by negroes was in the hands of tenants. The percentage of tenants is increasing. Twenty two thousand three hundred and seventy-four farms were (1910) under mortgage.
Agricultural Agriculture is the leading industry and cotton is the chief product. The acreage devoted to cotton ad vanced steadily from 1870 to 1913, when it reached 2,502,000 and the product was 1,073,000 bales. The yield per acre is slightly above the average, as also the price. The former is due to the rich bottom lands, the latter to the superior grade of cotton, approaching the long staple variety. The low price in 1914 led to a regular campaign for diversified farming and the result was the product dropped to 785,000 bales in 1915. The same year the corn crop increased 20,000,000 bushels, or about 50 per cent and several other crops in like pro portion, especially hay and oats. One of the most striking things is the development of the rice industry, which was introduced in 1904. In five years the acreage had risen to 27,419, in another five years to 100,000. The yield is 12 bushels above the average for the United States and the price 2.5 cents higher. The product in 1915 was 4,840,000 bushels worth $4,598,000. Cultivation is confined mainly to Lonoke, Prairie and Arkansas counties. Since
1909 Arkansas has risen from rank 13 among the States in production of apples to rank three, and from rank three in peaches to rank two. By far the larger part of the apples is grown in the three northwestern counties, the peaches in the western and southwestern counties below the Ozarks. One peach orchard in Pike County contains 5,000 acres, said to be the largest in the world. The berry crop is large in the eastern and central region. Large quantities of cantaloupes and strawberries are grown in the western counties, and strawberries in White County. The State ranked fourth in acreage devoted to vineyards (1915). The following table gives the amount and value of the chief products in 1916: Production Value Cotton 2.635,000 1,145,000 (bales) $107,430,000 Corn 2 550,000 45,135,000 OML) 44,232,000 Hay 375,000 469,000 (tons) 5,862,000 Oats 350,000 7,350,000 (m) 4,998,000 Rice 125,000 6,312,000 6,060,000 Potatoes 25,000 1,625,000 3,088,000 Wheat. 255,000 2,040,000 3,325,000 The total value of the crops for 1916 was $175,057,000, an increase of $59,101,300 over that of 1915. More attention is being given to live stock and within the last few years there has been a notable improvement in the breed of cattle, yet the dairy industry, to which the State is so well adapted, is still in its infancy. In 1916 there were 1,589,000 hogs worth $8, 581,000; 270,000 horses worth $22,140,000; 240,000 mules worth $24,480,000; 402,000 tmich cows worth $15,276,000.
Forests and Forest The for ested part of the State covers nearly three fourths of its area. The area of national for est lands in 1916 was 916,919 acres. More than 100 varieties of wood are found, but only a few appear in considerable quantities. The leading variety is pine (chiefly short leaf yellow), which covers the southern part of the State. Several varieties of oak, hic1coly, ash, gum, maple and elm are scattered widely over the State. Cypress abounds in the swamps of the Saint Francis and Mississippi valleys. Red cedar and cotton wood are found in the Arkansas valley. The estimated stand of timber in 1909 was 81,600,000,000 board feet, which was exceeded by only two Southern States. Of this amount all but 2,900,000,000 was privately owned. All but 300,000,000 feet of this was in two National forests, the Arkansas, 680,000 acres, and the Ozark, 488,949 acres. In 1916, 240,000 acres in these forests were thrown open to homestead. Since 1909 the cut has amounted to about 14,000,000,000 feet, leaving 67,500,000,000 in 1916. In 1909, 2,060 mills were cutting 1,313,668,000 feet of pine, 358,556, 000 of oak and other varieties in amounts bringing the total up to 2,111,300,000 feet worth $31,839,283. This does not include cross ties, poles, staves and firewood or whole logs shipped out of the State. Since 1909 the annual cut has decreased. In 1915, 1,150 mills pro duced 1,800,000,000 feet. A great part of this, both soft and hard, is dressed or used for manufactures within the State.