productive, especially those adjacent to the Choctawhatchee River.

The lands of the county produce cotton, corn, oats, peas, rice, rye, sugar-cane, peanuts and sorghum. Some of these are extensively grown, and others, most notably sugar-cane, are attracting greater attention year after year. Vegetables and grasses are grown also in vast abundance. The lands are generous in their yield of most of the necessaries, and many of the luxuries of life. Peaches, pears, grapes and figs thrive, and, with attention, do remarkably well. Through the broad forests of Dale there grow luxuriant grasses and plants for herds, and are of great public value for browsing purposes.

Beef marketing and wool growing are gradually assuming the proportions of thrifty industries. Large quantities of honey, of a superior quality, is annually gathered; but in the absence of transportation is either disposed of in the local markets or consumed at home. North of the Choctawhatchee River the trees of the forset embrace the oak, hickory, poplar, beech, sweet gum, and chestnut; south of the river are the extensive regions of yellow pine. Much of the last-named growth is hewn and rafted to market, while more still is sawn into lumber. Much turpentine is also gathered.

Ozark, the county-seat, with a population of several hundred, Clopton, Newton, Daleville, and Echo are the principal towns. There are good schools and churches at all these points. The county is drained by the Choctawhatchee and its numerous tributaries. It is abundantly supplied with water throughout. Upon many of these streams there are thrifty lumber-mills. At Newton there is a cotton and woolen factory, which was established many years ago, and has served many important ends in that portion of the State. The county is penetrated by the Alabama Midland Railroad which has given new life to that portion of the State. Numerous industries are springing up at the different centers of population. There is a fertilizer factory at Ozark.

The prices of land extend from $1 to $10 per acre. The county has an industrious agricultural population that would readily greet settlers and investors seeking homes and locations

for business. No doubt these lands will attract great attention within a few years, because of the vast abundance of yellow pine timber which they contain. Rare bargains can now be had by those seeking profitable investments in lands and real estate. Much of the land is public and may be entered under the homestead act. Of this there are 3,680 acres.

H

HENRY COUNTY.

ENRY county was created the same year that Alabama became a State-1819. It derived its name from that of the great Virginia orator—Patrick Henry. It lies in the extreme southeastern corner of the State, having Georgia, from which it is separated by the Chattahoochee River, on the east, and Florida on the south.

It is one of the most desirable sections of this latitude, being wonderfully healthy and in such position as that its climate is softened in winter and refreshed in summer by the sea breezes from the Gulf of Mexico. Many persons have left the counties above and removed to Henry because of its delightful climate. Free from the heavy moisture of the atmosphere, which is frequently true of regions adjacent to the coast, and having a dry, healthful climate, it is peculiarly suited to the invalid of more northern sections. Perhaps no portion of the Union affords a drier and healthier climate for consumptives than that found in this highly-favored region. Usually the elevation here is too great for the fogs to ascend and pure springs, sandy soil, and bracing winter atmosphere furnish all the avenues to health that could be desired. Here also are to be found the most favorable haunts for hunting and field sports, the forests being alive with partridges, wild turkeys, deer, and other game.

Henry county has an area of 1,000 square miles.

Population in 1880, 18,761; population in 1890, 24,847. White, 16,038; colored, 8,809.

Area planted in cotton, 69,880 acres; in corn, 55,324 acres; in oats, 6,820 acres; in rye, 73 acres; in wheat, 193 acres; in tobacco, 3 acres; in rice, 25 acres; in sugar-cane, 671 acres; in sweet potatoes, 1,266 acres.

Cotton Production-23,738 bales.

The upper part of Henry county is broken and rolling; the lower or southern portion is level. In the northern end of the county, the soil is of a light, sandy loam, and is very productive. In the southern portion the sandy soils prevail, and comparatively level pine woods constitute the landscape very generally. Along the Choctawhatchee River there is a dark mulatto soil which is quite valuable for farming purposes. There is also a variety of yellow loam upland soils which are much esteemed by the planter. In the southwestern corner of the county, in the drainage basin of Big Creek, there is a considerable body of red lime lands of great productive powers.

The field productions are cotton, corn, oats, rye, rice, potatoes, sugar-cane, field peas and peanuts. The soils respond most liberally to a generous use of fertilizers upon the higher and thinner lands. Very early crops are generally produced, because of

the warmth of the soil.

Such fruits as peaches, figs, pears, raspberries and strawberries are quite thrifty. No section excels this in the production of grapes. More attention is now being given these home luxuries than ever before.

There is a perceptible improvement in the stock of the county, and this is giving rise to the more careful production of domestic grasses. Over the commons and old fields, and through the forests of Henry there grow luxuriantly the finest grasses for grazing purposes. This fact, taken in connection with the water supplies which flow through the county in every direction, indicates its desirableness for the pursuit of stock-raising. Wool-growing has received considerable attention.

The lumber and timber interests have been, and are still, very great in the county. Such industries as saw mills abound in different portions of the county, and especially in or about the places of interest. Besides pine in great abundance, there are found in the forests of Henry such growths as hickory, oak, ash,

walnut, sweet gum, bay, beech, etc. These are usually found in the uncleared bottoms, in the swamps, or along the banks of streams.

The county is watered by the Chattahoochee (which separates it from Georgia) and Choctawhatchee Rivers, and the Yataabba, Emersee, Omanussee, Reedy, Big, Bryan's and Hutchison Creeks. The water supply is unlimited, the streams being of a beautiful clearness and well stocked with superb fish.

Within the last few years there has been remarkable development in the county of Henry awakened by the construction of the Alabama Midland Railroad, and the extension of the Georgia Central to the opposite side of the river at Columbia.

Other roads are in contemplation.

The chief towns of Henry are Abbeville, the county-seat, with a population of 800, Dothan, with a population of 1,500, Columbia, Gordon, Headland, and Lawrenceville. Good schools exist at all these centers of interest. An agricultural school of some note exists at Abbeville. It is a branch of the Agricultual and Mechanical College at Auburn. An educational system prevails throughout the county and is equally accessible to all classes. Churches mainly of the Baptist and Methodist denominations prevail throughout the county.

Lands vary in valuation from $1 to $10 per acre. Of these there are a great many in Henry county, being 6,620 acres.

Eager to assist and to be assisted in promoting the prosperity of the county, the people of Henry are favorable to the settlement of an industrious and thrifty folk in their midst. We have noted the delightful and healthful climate, the varied land, and divers resources of the county, and from these can readily be inferred the possibility of such a section. Regarding these, let the seekers of homes and capitalists alike determine whether a safer or more profitable investment can be made than in Henry county.

CONCLUSION.

O one who has followed the Author of this little treatise from section to section of this great and growing Commonwealth can be otherwise impressed than that Alabama is remarkable both in the extent and diversity of her resources of wealth. Her fertile fields, deep and numerous water-ways, charming climate, vast forests of timber, and varied and abounding mineral wealth place her, in some respects, in advance of any other State of the American Union. To place all these elements of wealth in proper order is the design of this little book.

It is hoped that the systematic arrangement and the sharply drawn lines between the several divisions of the State, and the minute description of each county, together with the comprehensive chapters upon the river-ways, the healthfulness, and the educational system of the State, warrant the claim set forth in the title of the work as the IMMIGRANT'S AND CAPITALIST'S GUIDEBOOK TO ALABAMA.