polish as marble.

A belt of this beautiful stone extends across the county. It is manufactured into monuments and tombstones. Granite and graphite also exist.

Large mills for grinding corn and wheat are found at different points in Chambers. There are two cotton factories in the county, one near West Point, on the Chattahoochee, and the other upon the same stream, but lower down.

Chambers is favored with three lines of railway-the Western Railroad, which is the main line between Montgomery and Atlanta, and the Columbus & Western, and the East Alabama & Cincinnati Railroad, which terminates, at present, in the county.

LaFayette, the county seat, with a population of 1,500, Bluffton, Cusseta, Fredonia and Millton are places of importance and have good educational and religious advantages. There is an admirable system of free schools throughout the entire county. One of the attractive points in Chambers, and one which illustrates the capability of the soils to produce fruit, is the famous Parnell Peach Farm, in the southeastern part of the county. It embraces over one thousand acres of fruit trees. The proprietor gathers much of his delicious fruit as early as the beginning of May, and sends it to remote points, such as New York and Chicago. Fresh and well-matured peaches command almost fabulous prices in these markets at so early a season. The annual income of this fruit farm is immense.

The owner of this farm is a brother of the famous Irishman so conspicuous as a defender of his people in the British Parliament.

Many hundreds of acres of land are lying idle in this county awaiting the hands of the tiller. Every disposition exists on the part of the residents to induce investors to purchase farms and homes and settle in their midst. To those thus coming the most reasonable rates will be offered. In some parts of the county lands may be purchased from $2 per acre, while the best lands will not exceed $10 per acre. Health, climate, superior water, excellent soil, the best social advantages, and a warm welcome are among the inducements presented to immigrants and investors by the people of Chambers county. There are no government lands in the county.

LEE COUNTY.

HIS county was established in 1866, and named for General Robert E. Lee, of Virginia. Highly favored in its location, with respect to the markets and transportation, as well as in regard to healthfulness, generous soils and educational facilities, Lee is a most desirable place of residence. Of these numerous advantages we shall have occasion to speak further onLet us look somewhat into the internal resources of the county. It has an area of 610 square miles.

Population in 1880, 27,262; population in 1890, 28,694. White, 12,197; colored, 16,497.

Area planted in cotton, 58,447 acres; in corn, 31,112 acres; in oats, 9,638 acres; in wheat, 586 acres; in rye, 80 acres.

Cotton Production-18,332 bales.

Lee county is divided into two distinct sections with respect to its topography. In the north the surface is hilly, while in the

south it is more level.

The several characters of soils are gray, red and sandy. Perhaps a little more than one-half of the tillable soil of Lee is gray. In other parts there is a distinct predominance of red land, while in others again, there is such a blending of the gray and red soils as to render it impossible to decide which prevails. The gray land is preferred for cotton, while the red lands are devoted, usually, to the grains. Crops grow with great readiness, and the lands are quite productive, especially when aided with fertilizers.

The character of the soils is such, and the undulation of the surface such, too, that farm work may be resumed soon after the heaviest rainfall.

The staple productions of Lee are cotton, corn, wheat, oats, sugar cane and sweet potatoes. The generous yield of the soils, the ease of cultivation, and the accessibility to market, serve as inducements to the planters to raise large quantities of cotton. This is consequently the one ruling staple of the county.

Orchard culture is receiving greater attention with the advance

of years.

Special attention has been devoted to the production of peaches and grapes, and with the most gratifying results. Extensive orchards and vineyards are now being planted in some parts of the county. Greater attention is also being given to the production of watermelons, to which the red lands, when fertilized, seem peculiarly adapted. The ready growth of this fruit, and the rapid transit to several markets in higher latitudes, are serving to stimulate producers to turn it to pecuniary advantage.

In Lee county there is an occurrence of white crystalline dolomite. In appearance it resembles white marble, and may be used for hearths, mantels, gravestones and monuments. It produces an excellent lime also. Besides this, there are to be found barytes, flagging stone, soapstone and granite. The forests abound in good timber, including short-leaf pine, the upland oaks, hickory, poplar, ash, maple, dogwood, the gums and cherry.

The streams of the county are the Chattahoochee River, and Wacoochee, Naufaba, Songahatchee, Big Halle wackee, White's, Wetumpka and Osanippa Creeks. These show a prevalence of water throughout the year. In addition to these, there is the presence of springs in every part of the county, and sometimes there are springs with mineral qualities. Either for plantation or domestic consumption, and for all mechanical purposes there is an abundant water supply. All the streams on the eastern side of the county flow into the Chattahoochee. The western portion is

drained by the Tallapoosa.

The transportation facilities of Lee are superior. The Western Railroad of Alabama, the Columbus & Western, and the East Alabama and Cincinnati Railroads run through different portions of the county.

Conspicuous among its industries are the Chewacla Limeworks, near Youngsboro, on the Columbus & Western Railroad. The lime from these works is marketed through the several States of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Louisiana. There is also a carriage and wagon factory at Opelika, besides other minor

mechanical industries.

The prominent points are Opelika, the county seat, having a population of 3,500, Auburn, Salem and Brownville.

The educational advantages of the county are superior. Opelika has two schools of a high order, both for male and female. Auburn is the seat of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of the State, and good common schools exist throughout the county.

Good lands can be purchased in the county from prices ranging from $3 to $15 per acre.

Purchasers of lands and seekers of homes would be accorded every consideration of Lee.

The county has no government lands.

TALLAPOOSA COUNTY.

HE county derives its name from the beautiful river which enters the north western portion and traces its course diagonally across it. It is one of the counties of the State the resources of which are but measurably known. Its agricultural capabilities have been somewhat tested, and in some particulars it leads the other counties of the State. Its mineral wealth is supposed to be considerable from the indications afforded. To these items our attention will now be directed somewhat in detail. The county has an area of 810 square miles.

Population in 1880, 23,401; population in 1890, 25,460. White, 16,951; colored, 8,509.

Area planted in cotton, 53,119 acres; in corn, 40,899; in oats, 10,056 acres; in wheat, 1,667 acres; in tobacco, 16 acres; in rye, 37 acres.

Cotton production—20,337 bales.

The county has two predominating varieties of soils-the red and the gray. These soils usually rest upon a subsoil which is more or less reddish or yellowish in color. Here, as in the adjoining counties, the red soils are usually best suited to the production of grain. In addition to the prevailing upland soils of red and gray there are fertile bottoms, the richness of which has

In

been derived from the washings of the neighboring hills. some cases these are the best lands found in the county. These lowlands embrace about one-sixth of the entire county.

The cotton soils of Tallapoosa are the red and gray soils, and some of the bottom lands along the river and creeks.

In addition to these, the loamy lands of the southern end of Tallapoosa are much used for the production of cotton. Most of the cotton raised in the county is produced in the southern sections, because of the prevalence of the soils best adapted to its growth.

Upon the best grain lands are produced from thirty to forty bushels of corn per acre. The other chief productions of Tallapoosa are oats, wheat, sorghum, sweet potatoes, etc. It leads all the other counties in the State in the production of wheat.

The forests are heavily timbered with white, red and Spanish oak, poplar, hickory, pine, ash, mulberry and gum. These valuable timbers will be brought into requisition as the demand grows for their use in the mechanical arts.

The county is watered by the Tallapoosa River and the Hillabee, Chattasofka, Big Sandy, Little Sandy, Sorgahatchee, Buck, Elkehatchee, Blue, Winn and Emuckfaw Creeks. Immense water-power prevails in every section of the county and upon all the principal streams, notably upon Big Sandy and Hillabee. The incline planes over which the vast volumes of water are precipitated give them immense power for manufacturing purposes. In the southern end of the county are the famous Tallapoosa Great Falls, which possess the greatest water-power in the State. The water rushes along a steep declivity for two hundred yards, the inclination being fifty-three feet. The power is estimated at thirty-thousand-horse. Adjacent to the falls are vast quantities of granite rock, while immense forests of yellow pine timber extend backward into the interior for many miles. All indications point to this wonderful locality as one of the future centers of Southern manufacture. The famous Tallassee Cotton Mills are located upon the western side of the river, in the county of Elmore.

The minerals of Tallapoosa are numerous and abundant, and