^/f> h LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 433 279 9 • (30UNTY Arkansa PUBLISHED BY KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY INDUSTRIAL D EPARTM E NT J. F. HOLDEN, VICE-PRESIDENT S.G.WARNER, GEN. PASSENGER &TKT.AGT. F. E. ROESLER, INDUSTRIAL AND IMMIGRATION AGT. KANSAS CITY, MO. Industrial Department The Kansas City Southern Ry. Go. If you are seeking a location for the purpose of opening a farm, planting an orchard, raising commercial truck, raising livestock or poultry, or for the purpose of estab- lishing fruit evaporators, preserving, pickling or vinegar works, or to build and operate tanneries, flour mills, grist mills, cotton gins, cotton mills, woolen mills, cotton seed oil mills, fertilizer works, or to manufacture pine and hardwood lumber, wagons, agricultural implements, furniture, cooperage, fruit packages, boxes, paper stock, woodenware of every description, to operate a creamery or cheese factory, or to quarry building stone, or slate, or to manufacture brick, tile, sewer pipe or clay products of any description, or to mine lead, zinc, iron, or to engage in a mercantile business of any kind, or operate foundries, machine shops or iron works, or, if you desire to travel for health, for pleasure or for sport, for all of which there are splendid opportunities on the line of the Kansas City Southern Railway, write to F. E. ROESLER, Industrial and Immigr. Agt. Kansas City, Mo. BENTON COUNTY Arkansas ALONG THE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY The great trouble, in a money-making way, with most of the American farmers, is, that they do not place a proper estimate upon the small things. No branch of industry has suffered more from this neglect than farming. In the older countries of the world where the population is dense and land for farming scarce, necessarily the little things must be studied and utilized in the economics of the farm. In China and Japan the farms consist of only a fraction of an acre and the man in Germany who cultivates ten acres is quite an important personage. In some of the older states of this country farming is conducted upon a few acres, but in this great unlimited outdoors of the Central and Southwest the trick has not yet been learned to fence in only a few acres and to cultivate these in a manner to yield large results. Too much energy is still being wasted in the effort to get one hundred bushels of corn from five acres, when an acre and a half should produce the same quantity. Only a few years ago in South Missouri and Northwest Arkansas, the farmer thought he had performed his full duty when he planted his fields in corn, wheat and oats. If he had his crop planted in good time and the season was favorable, he sometimes came out ahead, but if, as often happens in the best of countries, the season was not favorable, he was in for a siege of "hard times." In 1894, when the Kansas City. Southern Railway was built through the western part of Benton County, save a few old apple orchards, there was nothing grown on the farms except corn, wheat and oats. The farms were large and the methods of cultivation crude. There were no towns along this line except Siloam Springs, which was only a straggling string of frame houses, which followed the zig-zag courses of Sager Creek, and many of these were vacant, the population all told being less than one thousand. Twenty miles north was a dilapidated village of one or two hundred known as Sulphur Springs. Since completion of the railway there has been a wondrous change in town and country. Along the railway in this county there are now four other thrifty, prosperous towns, three of them larger than was Siloam at the time of the building of the railway, and Siloam Springs is a substantially built modern city of between 4,000 and 5,000 population. No place on this railway more completely illustrates the profit in paying heed to little things in farming than do the four towns in this county. The country ^ wSS^jjjtgJll^-'^^Nlt^^,^,!^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^KBmmm.m^''i' ' ^ ^^1^^^' — T" 7^^^^ .^^^^ .. £ - • 1 «^ ".. ?^£|»HK', ^^^^^^ - . WILSON BROS.' STOCK FARM, GENTRY, ARK. J - ' M 1 Hi H 1 1 Ihi ^^^lil^^^H ^^^^^^^H H ■ ^^H ^Ik Ll^-Jl^^^^l ^^^1 ^^^Bli^^^^l ^^^^^^^H ■ H ^^H ^^^^BPV ^^^^^^ ^ ^ blflH ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHte^. ^^^1 ■ ■•.•• M A BENTON COUNTY FARM, SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. around each of these towns, Siloam Springs, Gravette, Decatur, Sulphur Springs and Gentry, is occupied by a class of thrifty farmers and fruit growers, whose farms range in size from five to eighty acres, ten and twenty acres being the average size. These farms are well culti- vated in a great variety of crops, and failures of crops and industrial maladies such as "bad luck" and hard times are rare occurrences. The soil and climate produce all the cereals and domestic grasses and the greatest variety of fruits and vegetables. Something is pro- duced to sell every day in the year. In spring and summer, fruits and berries in vast quantity , and in winter, poultry, eggs, butter and fine live stock. It is an error to presume that the men who run the stores, the banks and factories make cities. They are the results of causes which create the wealth of the cities. They would not be there, were not the wealth-producing factors of the country behind them. To their credit it should be said that many of them have personally contributed to the great work of promoting and developing the fruit and truck growing industry and have enjoyed the fruits of their enterprise. Of course there is always a pessimistic minority who see no good in anything and will claim that fruit-growing does not pay. Notwithstanding this, there have been erected great brick, cement and stone blocks in Siloam Springs, Gravette and Decatur, a fifty-thousand dollar cold storage and ice plant, at Siloam Springs, water-works, elec- tric light system, barrel and box factories, evaporating plants, vinegar works, large can- ning plant, poultry packing houses, numerous mercantile establishments and banks in all the towns along the K. C. S. Ry. in Benton County. The bank deposits in Siloam Springs alone exceed one-half million dollars and the deposits of the other banks come from the farms and orchards. All the towns have splendid school facilities and in Siloam Springs, Sulphur Springs and the other towns, fine homes are the material gains, but an intelligent citizenship, with high ideals, clean morals, refined manners, friends of art and literature are the deeper imprints left on the population by the fruit-growing indus- try. Does fruit-growing pay? Visit the annual . Chautauqua Assembly at Siloam Springs. See the results of fruit-growing in the material and social advancement in any of the towns of this region. Does it pay to do small farming? Visit the business men and the farmers. That disappointment will occasionally be met with is to be expected, that all years will not be alike in financial results is natural, but taken as a whole, where will a more contented citizenship be found than in the western part of Benton County? Not alone has wealth been produced from the soil, but the value of the soil itself has grown. Before fruit-growing was placed on a commercial basis, there were practically no fixed values to lands in this section. To-day, a hundred dollars an acre is not regarded high for land with an orchard close to any of these towns and some land has been sold for milch more. With the advantages of climate, health, water, fruit-growing and poultry-raising pos- sessed by this locality, there is no reason why this land in a few years should not be worth as much as the fruit lands of California. Every- thing in fruit grown in this latitude is success- fully grown here, and the variety is so great that there is no such thing as failure. Some- times the peach crop is nipped by the frost and the apple crop scant and inferior in quality, but the strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, dewberries, blackberries and cannery stock are regular and profitable crops. The greatest of these is the strawberry, which is shipped in car load lots. The business has grown to great dimensions. Between Sulphur Springs and Siloam Springs there are probably between 2,000 and 2,500 acres in this fruit and the car loads shipments amount to 300 to 350 cars. The products shipped from the county in an ordinary fruit year vary in value from $3,000.00 to $3,250,000 and a half-million dollars might be added for poultry and eggs. For 190^ the shipments were as follows: Car loads of green apples, 1,163 ; dried apples, 133; car loads of apples in cold storage, 283; car loads of peaches, 163; car loads of straw- berries, 105; bushels of apples to distillery, 98,000; bushels of apples for cider, 253,715; crates of blackberries, 6,841; crates of rasp- berries, 13,808; bushels of apples canned, 125,800; bushels of peaches canned, 23,800; bushels of tomatoes canned, 5,000; car loads of apples wasted, 63. The money value received for the apple crop was $1,132,654 and for the other fruits $650,- Strawberries net, one year with another, $75 to $100 per acre and sometimes much more. The peach crop is more or less uncertain, yielding, say, four crops in six years and is exceptionally valuable when obtained. The natural conditions in Benton County do not require that the farmer shall limit himself to one line of production, that is to say put all his eggs in one basket. He can grow wheat, oats, corn, clover, timothy, any of the domestic grasses, blue grass, flax, alfalfa, potatoes here as abundantly as elsewhere and indulge in stock-raising, poultry-raising and in fruit and berry culture besides. He can so arrange it as to have a cash income almost any month in the year if he properly diversifies his farming operations. The lands of the western part of Benton County are varied in their composition and ^ - " f',"^ A GOOD LIVE STOCK AND DAIRY COUNTRY 000; total for fruits, $1,782,654; for poultry and eggs. $250,000 to $300,000. While general farming and stock-raising are carried on here profitably as everywhere else in the Ozark region, the "ready money crop" is fruit of one kind or another. The "Big Red Apple" generally buys the bank stock in this section, and as a commercial crop is as depend- able as a source of continued income as most other crops. It is grown and handled as a commercial proposition and is usually sold long before the crop has matured. About fifty trees are grown to the acre and a mature tree should readily produce an income of $2, or $100 per acre. Fruit which does not meet the market requirements is evaporated or converted into vinegar or cider, and if the market is slow, the crop is placed in cold storage until the price is satisfactory. Partial failures and at long inter- vals a complete failure occasionally happen. contour. Near the railroad they are rolling rather than hilly. The areas of bottom land though highly fertile, are as a rule small and narrow. The soil is usually a dark loam and excellent for all ordinary field crops as well as for potatoes, berries and commercial truck. The uplands generally are covered with a thick layer of fertile red or chocolate colored soil and are unexcelled for the cultivation of fruit, berries, grapes, etc., and produce abun- dantly domestic grasses, which are sown for. pasturage, such as blue grass, clover, etc. Some of the uplands or ridges are covered in places with gravel, though most of the land is entirely free from it. This loose gravel does not in the least interfere with the cultivation of the land and in the production of fruits and berries is considered a decided advantage, as its presence tends to retain the moisture in the soil and it has been observed that fruits grown on this land are better colored and mature earlier than on other lands. Under proper cultivation these lands yield very good crops of corn and small grain. Siloam Springs, Gentry, Decatur, Gravette and Sulphur Springs are highly worthy of a visit from the man who is looking for a new home. Highly improved lands vary in price from $50 to $150 per acre, the higher price for bearing orchards. Unimproved or par- tially improved lands range in price from $10 to $35 per acre. Where conveniences for quick and easy hauling of fruits to the railway station are not the principal consideration and where general farming rather than fruit-growing prevail, unimproved lands can be had at much lower prices, say $8 to $15 per acre. Under present conditions a man of moderate means will have no trouble in finding tillable land compatible with the dimensions of his purse, and the man who wants a highly improved farm with bearing orchards and high class improvements can also find what he seeks. In either case improved or unimproved land can be had here far a smaller outlay of money, in a fairly well populated country, than almost anywhere else. The landscape of western Benton County is one of singular beauty and Sulphur Springs and Siloam Springs are famous health and pleasure resorts. Great springs of the purest freestone water abound, and at Sulphur Springs are several varieties of mineral waters, chaly- beate, lithia and sulphur springs which are visited annually by several thousand people who go there for the benefit of their health. ^miM p-^MMr ~>4-' '■ " m THRESHING WHEAT AT SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. Sulphur Springs, Arkansas Sulphur Springs, a prosperous town of 1,500 people, is a noted health and pleasure resort, situated 205 miles south of Kansas City, Mo. Its altitude is about 1,000 feet above sea level. Its several medicinal springs are of great hygienic value and are visited by thousands of people who seek relief from chronic ailments of various kinds. The town, containing a number of attractive stone and brick buildings, sur- rounds a large beautiful park of about thirty acres in which are situated the several springs, each properly housed and protected. Running through the park is Butler Creek, a clear spark- ling mountain stream, carrying a considerable flow of water. A fine rock dam thrown across the stream forms a charming clear lake, half a mile long, and affording fine boating, fishing and bathing. High-wooded hills entirely sur- round the town and from the tops of these most magnificent views, extending over many miles of country, may be had. Therie are numerous fine drives in the vicinity, and finer scenery than that surrounding Sulphur Springs is difficult to find. The principal attractions of Sulphur Springs will always be the benefits which may be obtained through the use of the waters of the springs. Fine springs of pure water abound everywhere in the vicinity. The waters of the springs situated in the park are, however, most highly valued on account of their curative properties. The most noted of these are the Chalybeate or Iron Spring, the waters of which are credited with being highly benefi- cial in complaints peculiar to women and in cases of general debility; the Saline Spring, credited with very favorable action in cases of stomach trouble, catarrh, sluggish liver, dys- pepsia, constipation, gout and rheumatism ; the White and Black Sulphur Springs, used exten- sively for the relief of liver disorders, abdomi- nal plethora, malaria, rheumatism, gout, kidney disorders, etc., and the Lithia Spring, good for stomach trouble, rheumatism and torpid livers, etc. Large quantities of this water are shipped to the cities of Kansas City, Fort Smith, Texarkana, Beaumont and other places. The accommodations for the entertainment of health and pleasure seekers are modern and up-to-date and capable of entertaining a very large number of people at one time. The Kihlberg Hotel and Bath House can entertain 200 guests; the Oaklawn Inn has forty bed- rooms; the Ozark Hotel, forty bedrooms; the Joplin House, twenty bedrooms; the Sulphur Springs Hotel, twenty; Windsor Hotel, twenty; Miller Cottage, fifteen bedrooms; in addition to which are several private houses at which board and lodging may be obtained. During the past two or three years there has been great building activity at Sulphur Springs, and about half a million dollars has been ex- pended in the construction of fine business buildings, hotels, dwellings, churches, schools and town improvements, including an electric light plant, waterworks, sewerage, cement walks, street improvements, etc., etc. Owing to the fact that the health resort features of Sulphur Springs were uppermost in the minds of .those who settled in the town, the agricultural and horticultural resources of the immediate vicinity did not attract the attention they would have attracted elsewhere. There is a large acreage of untilled land of good quality and capable of producing all crops grown in Benton County in the immediate neighborhood of the town. It will abundantly produce all the ordinary field crops, corn, wheat, rye, oats, flax, hay, etc., and affords fine pasturage for live stock of all kinds. It is an admirable country for poultry raising and most excellent for the cultivation of apple and peach orchards and berries. There are now within a radius of four miles of Sulphur Springs between 300 and 400 acres planted in fruits, three-fourths in apples and one hundred acres in strawberries. The yield and money value per acre is the same as in other parts of Benton County. The value of an apple crop varies with the age of the orchard, running one year with another, including trees of all ages, from $.50 to $100 per acre. Early apples begin to bear at four to five years, some at six years. No large crops are expected before the seventh or eighth year. In Benton County there have been only two failures of the apple crop in sixteen years. The peach is somewhat irregular in bearing and is generally grown as a catch crop. Peaches grown on high ground net from $50 to $100 per acre. At times the crop is very profitable, running as high as $200 per acre. Strawberries in the average net the grower from $50 to $100 per acre, though yields as high as $250 and $300 per acre are sometimes obtained. Only a few of the growers obtain these results; $100 per acre being a high figure for the other growers in the same neighborhood. Land values are very low as compared with other sections of Benton County. In quality the lands are as good as in the other parts of the county, but fruits have not been grown in commercial quantity at Sulphur Springs, and until there are enough fruit growers there to FARM VIEW AT SULPHUR SPRINGS, ARK. ship in carload lots the increase in value will not be as rapid as in sections where large quantities of fruits are produced. This condi- tion will not last long as there is now a rapid influx of new settlers and the fruit growing industry will be placed on a commercial basis very soon. Poultry raising would pay handsomely at Sulphur Springs. The shipments from Benton County last year amounted to thirty-five car loads of 15,000 pounds each, valued at $60,750, and seventy-five car loads of eggs valued at $128,000, making a total of $188,750. Turkeys do very well in Benton County, and large numbers are shipped to the Northern markets late in fall. Live stock of all descrip- tions does well, as the country is well grassed and has best water in unlimited quantity. The homeseeker would do well to stop over at Sulphur Springs and examine the adjacent lands, which he will find to be of good quality and exceptionally low in price. SUPPER TIME IN THE POULTRY YARD, DECATUR, ARK. Qravette, Arkansas The writer of this sketch arrived in Arkansas, from Minnesota, about nineteen years ago. Sulphur Springs was then the terminus of the "Splitlog Railroad," which in later years be- came part of the Kansas City Southern Rail- way, and this was my first stopping place. Coming from a smooth, blizzard-swept prairie country to one of rugged hills with beautiful and picturesque scenery, presented a contrast, which, from a utilitarian point of view, made it difficult for the new arrival just from the broad prairies to properly value its agricultural resources. The first impression was not very favorable. However, moving westward and later southward, the rich flat woods and the fertile valleys with their deep alluvial soils and growing cropts, lent encouragement and made visible the country's resources, developed and undeveloped. The country in this part of Benton County did not show up much in the way of developed resources; it had been with- out railway facilities and was not in the market as a commercial competitor. Here and there, scattered through the forest-clad hills, were farms, most of them small and few that had much land cleared. Yet, those who had ap- plied their energies to orchard planting were reaping good financial results, and to them the market was open. This industry, like others in those days, was handicapped and hampered by the lack of shipping facilities, and fruit could not be handled in any great commercial quantity, a feature which was discouraging. The people generally were happy and con- tented, most of them were descendants of those who had lived there prior to the Civil War, but among them were many newcomers whose advent was always welcome. The old STRAWBERRY PICKERS AT GRAVETTE, ARK. settlers enjoyed life as only real contented people can enjoy it. There were many fine farms, much given to the cultivation of grain and the production of live stock. Cotton, ten years earlier, had been a staple product of Benton County. Some fruit was cultivated, some berries, apples and peaches, but most of the peaches were- seedlings and the apples were largely confined to the Ben Davis and Winesap varieties. In those days there was a mile or more of forest between the farms, and the next door neighbor was out of the range of vision; but since then great changes have taken place. With the advent of the Kansas City Southern Railway came a change in the program, so to speak. Five miles south of Sulphur Springs, in the flat woods, a most favored agricultural and horticultural section, there sprang into existence a new town. This townsite, Gravette, was soon covered with frame buildings and became a busy village. As the country de- velops so does the town. The railway made the market readily accessible, created a new life and stimulated industry among the far- mers, and since then an enormous development has taken place. Hundreds and hundreds of acres of land were cleared and thousands of apple trees, peach trees and other choice fruit trees were set out. Immigration began to pour in, many new people came and settled and are still coming. The orchard interest has grown unceasingly and now this part of Benton County stands on an equality with the best sections of this great fruit-growing region. Gravette, which originally consisted exclu- sively of frame buildings, possesses to-day an entire block of solid brick buildings on one side of the street, half a block on the other side, and a hundred feet of brick business buildings on another street; two large grist mills and one smaller mill; a large 100,000-barrel capac- ity vinegar factory; a cannery, cost $10,000; a large school house; four church buildings, two of them modern brick edifices; an evapora- tor, planing mill, electric light plant, broom factory; packing sheds of Farmers' Union; two substantial banks; numerous general mer- chants, grocers, druggists and other business enterprises; two telephone lines; two publish- ing plants, including a weekly newspaper. A large lime manufacturing plant, near the town, is in operation all the year round. The fruit growing industry at Gravette is large and covers a vast field. A late venture is cantaloupe growing, organized by the Farmers' Union. No less than 500 acres are cultivated in this crop at Gravette, and the prospective yield is about 100 car loads. Strawberry culti- vation is growing and the Farmers' Union reports that 300 additional acres will be planted during the present year. Of the last year's apple crop, Gravette supplied 150 car loads, which were shipped, and about forty car loads which were worked up by the vinegar factory and the evaporators. The value of the live stock shipped annually from this station is between $50,000 and $75,000; and the lime output for one year is valued at $40,000. The annual shipments of poultry and eggs amount to $30,000. All these are growing industries, each with a larger production each succeeding year. Corn, wheat, forage and other crops are extensively grown and are largely consumed in the raising of live stock. The present population of Gravette is 1,250, and about fifty new people have settled here during the past year. During the year five new dwellings, two new mercantile buildings, one factory and a warehouse, together with residence additions, have been built at a cost of $10,600, and street improvements costing $2,000 have been made. Three new stores have opened up for business, with stocks valued at $4,000. The Gravette Canning, Packing and Cold Storage Co. has built a factory em- ploying about 20 men. The year's shipments handled by one of the railroads consisted of 10 car loads of wheat, 20 of corn, 60 of apples, : 42 of cattle, 5 of horses and mules, 5 of sheep and goats, 30 of hogs, 3,000 crates of peaches, 2,000 of cantaloupes, 3,000 of strawberries and blackberries, 4,000 cases of eggs, 75,000 pounds of poultry, $40,000 worth of lime, 8,000 pounds of ;j wool and $2,000 worth of miscellaneous truck. About 200 new people settled on farms and brought under cultivation 500 acres or more of new lands; the improvements being valued at $5,000. New lands planted in orchard about 200 acres, the value of the improvements being $8,000. Dairying is becoming an important industry and will form a source of considerable income, and there are great possibilities in the raising of fine live stocky for which there is abundant forage, an excellent climate and pure water. Gravette's Commercial Club, recently reorga- nized, will take pleasure in supplying any desired information concerning town and coun- try. The Kansas City Southern Railway and the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway afford splendid transportation facilities to the best of markets. The climate prevailing in the Ozark region, its pure water, and thousands of springs, add much to the natural attractiveness of the country. There is room for many more people here and small tract intensive farming is prov- ing very profitable. More can be made in fruits, berries and truck, on small tracts, than is possible to make on larger tracts where thorough cultivation cannot be successfully applied. The altitude of Gravette and adjacent country is over 1,200 feet. ■^ '-■Mi,: PACKING APPLES FOR SHIPMENT, DECATUR, ARK. Decatur, Arkansas Decatur is one of the numerous prosperous towns in Benton County and has about 450 inhabitants. It is 217 miles south of Kansas City and 62 miles from Joplin, Mo., and in point of altitude, 1231 feet, is one of the more elevated towns on the K. C. S. Ry. It has been almost entirely rebuilt within the last three years and nearly all the frame buildings have been replaced by attractive brick and concrete structures. It is a compact little town, sur- rounded by some 300 farms and orchards within a radius of five miles. About two thousand acres are devoted to apple orchards and other fruits, berries and cannery stock and 5,000 to 6,000 acres to corn and general field crops. The principal business of the town is handling and shipping fruits and the manu- facture of fruit products. The Holland- American Fruit Products Co. has one of the best equipped and most complete canning, evapo- rating and preserving plants in the state, and provides a good market for all products not shipped. The year 1909 was not a good fruit year, but the shipments from Decatur amounted to 18 car loads of apples, 1,800 crates of canta- loupes, 22,000 crates of strawberries, 4,000 crates of blackberries, 3,500 pounds of miscel- laneous truck, 26,000 pounds of poultry, 850 cases of eggs of 30 dozen each, 10 car loads of cattle and 15 car loadS; (jLJiogs. Large quan- tities of fruits were consumed by the cannery and of these there is no record. Within three and one half miles of Decatur are 300,000 apple trees, 180,000 peach trees, and more than 600 BERRY PICKERS LINED UP FOR A DAY'S WORK acres of strawberries and blackberries. The country adjacent to Decatur is one of small farms intensely cultivated and the money returns obtained per acre are large, in some cases astonishing. The strawberry growers get an average of $100 per acre from their crops, but the exceptions are worthy of record. Crop of 1909: J. L. Denton, from 4>2 acres, $1,247.20; av- erage per acre, $277.15. S. P. Londagin, from S^i acres, $1,348.00; average per acre, $359.46. G. F. Abercrombie, from 4 acres,' $1,467.72; average per acre, $366.93. J. R. Hitch, "from Ji acre, $324.36; average per acre, $649.20. W. H. Clark, from 1}^ acres, $505.28; av- erage per acre, $336.85. J. M. Buckner, from 3 acres, $1,195.14; av- erage per acre, $398.38. John Smith, from 2}4 acres, $710.52; av- erage per acre, $284.00. Sam J. Whiteside, from 2 acres, $600.00; average per acre, $300.00. M. B. Evans, from IffJ acres, $566.-58; average per acre, $377.72. H. E. Clark, from 2H acres, $746.40; av- erage per acre, $271.05. R. E. Lee, in 1907, sold $3,000 worth apples from 35 acres. S. Londagin, 1908, sold $840 worth straw- berries from 2 acres. Port Howard, sold 400 bushels of tomatoes per acre. E. N. Plank, sales $12,811 from 100 acres of strawberries. Decatur has made a steady growth from year to year and now has a first class cannery, costing about $30,000, a bank with $35,000 to $50,000 deposits, an excellent graded school in a modern brick school building, costing $10,000, some fifteen or twenty mercantile establish- ments, housed in modern brick or concrete buildings, a large concrete shipper's warehouse, fruit packing houses, concrete block factory, waterworks, electric lights, etc., etc. During the year ending June 30, 1909, there were built 12 dwellings, costing $12,000; 14 mercantile buildings, costing $50,000; two factory build- ings, $3,000; a new hotel, $1,500; park im- provements, $800; street improvements, $600; •new telephone improvements, $600. Two mercantile concerns with stocks aggregating $7,000 opened up for business. Nine new farms were opened up on the ad- jacent lands and 75 acres of land were cleared, the improvements, including houses, fences, etc.; amounted to $6,000. In all 105 new people have settled on farms. The country round about Decatur is undulat- ing, and traversed by numerous small water courses fed by springs. The creek bottoms as a rule are small and narrow, but are highly fer- tile, the soil being splendidly adapted to the cultivation of potatoes, berries, commercial truck and all the field crops of the country. The red or chocolate-colored uplands are un- excelled for the production of fruits, berries, grapes, etc., and produce abundantly the do- mestic grasses which are sown for pasturage. It has been observed that the highest points are best suited for peaches, while the apple will do well on nearly all the lands. Loose gravel is found in some places, but this is con- sidered an advantage, as it does not interfere with cultivation and tends to hasten the maturity of the crop. Under proper cultivation these lands yield very good crops of corn and small grain. Nearly all the country in the vicinity of Decatur was originally covered with ^ ^owth of hardwood timber, consisting of various kinds of oak, some walnut and other timber. There is a ready sale of this timber in various forms and the income derived is generally more than sufficient to pay the cost of clearing the land where this is necessary. While general farming and stock-raising are carried on here profitably, as everywhere else in the Ozark region, the ready money crop is fruit of one kind or another. The "Big Red Apple" and the Strawberry generally buy the bank stock in this section, and as a commercial crop are as dependable as a source of continued income as any other crop. Apples are grown and handled as a commercial proposition and are usually sold long before the crop has ma- tured. About fifty trees are grown to the acre, and a mature tree should readily produce an income of $2, or $100 per acre. Fruit which does not meet the market requirements as to form, size and color is either canned, evapo- rated or converted into cider or vinegar, and if the market is slow is placed in cold storage until the price is satisfactory. About 500 acres are planted in strawberries and raspberries; blackberries, cherries, plums and peaches are grown more or less extensively and shipped with other fruits in car load lots. The peach acreage is large but the yield is more or less uncertain. About four crops are obtained in six years, but these crops are ex- ceptionally valuable when they are obtained. The railway facilities are such that fast fruit trains with refrigerator cars deliver fruits in Kansas City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, etc., as fast as passenger trains can travel. No fruit-producing region is better, situated with regard to the market than is Benton County. About 30 miles north is the city of Joplin, claiming 46,000 inhabitants and 100,000 more within fifteen miles thereof, all engaged in various ways with the lead and zinc mining industry; twenty miles further north, the city of Pittsburg, Kansas, with 25,000 people in town and 75,000 more within a radius of ten miles, all interested in coal mining; some 50 or 60 miles east, the city of Springfield, Mo., with about 20,000; two hundred odd miles further northeast, St. Louis, Mo. ; about 200 miles south, Fort Smith, Ark., with 35,000; and 217 miles north, Kansas City and suburbs with a third of a million people. Highly improved lands in the immediate vicinity of Decatur are valued at prices rang- ing from $50 to $200 per acre, the higher price being for mature bearing orchards, with houses, barns and fences. Unimproved or partially improved lands range in price from $10 to $35 per acre. Where convenience for quick and easy hauling of fruits to the railway station is not the principal consideration and where gen- eral farming is preferred, unimproved lands can be had for $8 to $15 per acre. Gentry, Arkansas Is situated on the Port Arthur Route about midway north and south in the western half of Benton County, Arkansas, 222 miles south of Kansas City. It is on a high level plateau, with a beautiful level prairie country, inter- spersed with groves of young timber on the west, rolling timber land with an occasional rich valley on the east; a fine fertile valley on the north, and Flint creek valley on the south; and still farther south by a very level country — mostly prairie. All this coun- try is well watered with springs and cool run- ning brooks. Gentry is the highest point on the railroad, elevated 1,238 feet above sea level. On account of this elevation and fine fertile land, it has been selected by the Ozark Orchard Co. as a site for the largest orchard in the world. Hence for five miles north on either side of the railroad they have a continuous orchard. Gentry has 1,200 people. Our principal streets have good cement sidewalks. We have an excellent six-room brick public school building, and High School, cost $5,000, and employ eight teachers. Hendrix Academy with the principal's home, costing $10,000, gives Gentry excellent school facilities. Our taxes are light— 17 J^ mills for all purposes. Our state and county are out of deot. We have neither snakes nor mosquitoes, chills or malaria. But we do have an abundance of fruit of all kinds, with good health to enjoy it. Gentry has a system of public waterworks, electric lights, a fine auditorium seating 1,000 people; hotel, $10,000, said to be one of the best in Northwest Arkansas; State Bank of Gentry, one of the strongest financial institu- tions in the county, occupying their new stone and brick building at a cost of $5,000; C. P. Catron, cashier; good roller mill, one among the best; stores of all kinds; box and barrel factory; fine church houses; a canning factory which turns out thousands of cans of tomatoes, pumpkins and other canned goods; five fruit evaporators. The country immediately surrounding Gen- try, say within a radius of two and one-half miles, is densely settled, having about one family to every forty acres, and the majority of tracts in cultivation range from five to twenty acres. Within two and one-half miles of the railway station there are probably 2,500 people, nearly all of whom are engaged in or interested in agricultural and horticultural pursuits. Very few small towns ship so great a variety of products to market as does the town of Gentry. For the year 1909, the shipments from this station amounted to 6 car loads of vinegar, 11 car loads of canned goods, 26 car loads of apples, 7 car loads of evaporated apples, 11 cars of skins and cores, 4,771 crates of strawberries, 702 crates of blackberries, 24 crates of pears and plums, 72,210 pounds of poultry, 871 crates of peaches, 4,000 cases of eggs, 532 cases of beans, 19 car loads of cattle, 2 car loads of sheep and goats, 3,980 pounds of wool, and 13 car loads of hogs. Large quantities of vegetables are produced for cannery stock, and consist of sweet potatoes, pumpkins, tomatoes, etc., and are used from July to October. The butter shipments amount to about 12,000 pounds. The grain produced at Gentry is consumed entirely at home or fed on the farms. Wheat yields from 10 to 15 bushels per acre; oats from 30 to 40, and corn from 25 to 40 bushels. From 20,000 to 30,000 bushels of wheat and about 30,000 bushels of oats are annually produced. The improvements in Gentry during 1909 consisted of 4 new dwellings costing $4,000, and one mile of concrete sidewalk costing $2,000. One hundred new people settled on the adjacent lands and one hundred acres were cleared and put in cultivation at a cost of $1,000. Improved farms with bearing orchards in five and ten-acre tracts, close to town, ordi- narily sell for $100 to $200 per acre; two miles out, for $50 to $100 per acre; .unimproved lands usually sell for $20 to $40 per acre. GENTRY, ARK. Siloam Springs, Arkansas Siloam Springs is south of Kansas City 229 miles, on a rolling plateau of the Ozark Moun- tains, 1,200 feet above sea level. It is in the northwest corner of Arkansas, one and one- half miles from the Oklahoma line and twenty- eight miles from the Missouri line. The popu- lation is about 4,000, and it is strictly speaking a city of homes, scattered over much territory, giving each dwelling plenty of ground. The business part of the city is substantially built of brick and stone, and the business houses and stores carry stocks usually found in much larger places. The city has developed far enough to have churches of every denomination with buildings a credit to a city of ten thousand and all of them well supported. The finest new brick school building in the land. A good accredited College well patronized. The city owns her own electric light plant and water- works system, and the city's supply of water comes from a big spring a mile from town. Twenty thousand dollars is being now ex- pended to improve these plants. $75,000 cold storage and ice plant and a $25,000 Water Shipping plant. Big flouring mill. The largest apple vinegar plant in the world. Apple evaporators and other manufacturing concerns. This is the largest shipping and receiving point on the Kansas City Southern Railroad between Kansas City and the southern terminals. Over twenty miles of cement sidewalks were built last year and more under construc- tion in every part of the city. Well graded streets eveiy where, as good as if macada- mized. Three prosperous banks. Daily and weekly papers and national magazines. All lines of business represented with up-to-date business men. Wholesale produce houses. In PEACH SEASON AT SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. fact everything of importance in the city busi- ness life is well and honestly represented. The volume of business transacted here each year is large enough to keep one-half million dollars deposits in the local banks, all the year around. Siloam Springs has been for many years a favorite health and pleasure resort for the people of Louisiana and Texas, and during the summer months the population is augmented by 2,000 to 2,500 people who come here to spend the summer. The climate and water of Siloam Springs are conducive to good health on general principles, and the water has a decided beneficial effect on rheumatic, kidney and stomach disorders. The moral environment of the city is the best. There are no saloons, with their attendant vices, no blind tigers, no gambling houses or disreputable places of any MR. DAVEY'S APPLE ORCHARD, SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK GATHERING BLACKBERRIES, GENTRY, ARK. kind. The climate is nearly perfect, the spark- ling waters of the springs pure and healthful, living is cheap, fruit plentiful and the social atmosphere pure and wholesome. The relig- ious element predominates and Siloam Springs is not only a city of homes, but a city of churches, schools and colleges, and the people walk the straight and narrow path. Improvements to the value of $100,000 or more are made in the city each year. Last year there was completed an elegant sixteen- room school house, built at a cost of $40,000. A substantial steel bridge was built across Sager Creek, a pretty stream which flows through the city. The Arkansas Chautauqua Association erected a fine steel pavilion, capa- ble of seating 3,000 people. Substantial addi- tions and improvements were made to the vinegar plant, already the largest of its kind in the United States. The Arkansas Conference College is being enlarged by the construction of two new buildings. To these larger enterprises should be added the general improvement made on the several hundred dwellings and gardens surrounding them. The homes and highways of Siloam Springs are shaded by tall and stately trees, and one can walk from one end of the city to the other in a continuous shade. In the city are several parks and two of these are close to the most popular springs. Nearly all the homes, and there are hundreds of them, are surrounded by well-kept gardens, embellished with orna- mental shrubs and floweiing plants. All things considered, Siloam Springs is a very pleasant place to live in, and its climate leaves but little to be desired. The winters are not cold and the summers are not hot. In the hottest weather the nights are cool and refreshing and one can get a good rest and feel like a new person the next morn- ing. The temperature will average about as follows: March, April and May, 61 degrees; June, July and August, 76 degrees; September. October and November, .55 degrees; December, January and February, 44 degrees. A careful record of the days of sunshine during the entire year were 214 days out of the 365. There is no damp depressing weather at any time, for while the rainfall is considerable at times, it lets up and the next hour may be bright and pleasant. The sources of income in the vicinity of Siloam Springs are manifold, but the greatest resource is the production of fine fruits. The climate and soil are particularly well adapted to commercial fruit growing. The soil ranges from a red clay loam to a black loam, under- laid with a red clay subsoiL Gravelly soil is found in places and is particularly esteemed, because it imparts color and flavor to fruits which win lasting favor in the market. It is highly productive and will grow anything any other land will. The bed rock is a cavern- ous limestone which makes the best foundation for all fruit growing lands. The soil and the climate of Benton County are conducive to the production of every pro- duct of the north temperate zone. It has been clearly demonstrated in recent years that it is especially adapted to horticulture; our apples, peaches, pears, cherries and all the berries and other fruits attain a size, color and flavor that cannot be excelled in any part of the worl<^ The largest and most important crop is the apple and then the peach. There will be harvested in Benton County this fall from apple trees two million dollars' worth of apples. Benton County has more bearing apple trees than any other county in the world. Our apples are shipped all over the world. The cold storage plant will be filled to its utmost capacity and the vinegar factory will be busy for a whole year, working up part of this year's crop. Peaches and strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, also yield a large revenue. The strawberry is always a reliable crop and pays one year with another from $50 to $100 per acre. The peach is somewhat uncertain in its yield, doing best on the high lands. It pays very well when a crop is ob- tained, which happens often enough to make it interesting. Some part of the county has produced fine peaches every year, that is to say, Benton County had some peaches every year, but the peach cannot be counted on as a regular crop in any particular locality. While fruit is the best paying crop, yet We can and do raise successfully timothy, clover, alfalfa, blue grass, etc., corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, and in fact can raise anything, but fruit pays the best. There are many families that nave 10-acre tracts who are making an indepen- dent living and some money besides. The small farmers, from 40 acres down, are the ones that are making the most money, and making it fast and easy, and as land is not high yet, there are many opportunities for securing a home with small means, and then you are independent for life. There are many incidents of men becoming independently rich from the cultivation of small tracts. Poultry must not be forgotten, as it is a very important industry, for in this climate "Old Biddy" attends to business the year around. One of our poultry shippers shipped in one week $10,000 worth of Arkansas eggs. Yes, the faithful hen can be relied upon, for she enjoys this climate, too. There are three produce dealers doing business in Siloam Springs and they are all responsible men. There is $30,000 per month paid out for this class of produce here. While horticulture is the most profitable industry in Benton County, agriculture, stock raising and poultry prove great resources to the farmers who are thrifty and industrious. In fact, the country is so resourceful that the farmer can have something to sell every month if he only lays his plans well and works on systematic basis. In the first place this is a sure crop country, and the farmer is not ha- rassed with doubts about the seasons. He knows that he will reap when he sows and hence peace of mind and contentment lengthen his age many years. Drouth has no terror for him, and he loses no sleep over high winds, hail- storms or floods. In fact he is not vexed with any of the extremes of climate that make life a burden to the farmer of so many places. And this is an advantage that cannot be overesti- mated. Some of our farmers are getting swelled up because they received more for their apples in the field last season than they thought their land was worth. The trouble with them is the land is worth more than they thought it was. Nevertheless it is a fact that in many instances the apples sold for more (on the trees) than was paid for the land. This goes to prove that our country is yet in its infancy and values are bound to go higher. A good farm here set in orchard is the best and safest investment a man can have, of course this is counting one year with another. There is no country on earth where a greater numb^ or moro different variety of products can be grown on one farm. Diversified farming pays the best as it does everywhere else, yet fruit is the most profitable crop. ROLLMAN'S ORCHARD, SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. Rogers, Arkansas Rogers is a little city of about 4,000 people, lying in the Ozarks, at an altitude of 1,400 feet, and is the present terminus of the Arkansas, Oklahoma & Western Railroad which connects with the Kansas City Southern Railway at Siloam Springs, Ark. Rogers as a town is twenty-seven years old. Its population is nearly all American born. It has seven churches, good public schools, and a splendid academy. The industrial enterprises in operation are a first class electric light and water plant, a large ice and cold storage plant, a flouring mill with 150 barrel capacity, a very complete white lime factory, a number of fruit evaporators, one cider and vinegar factory, two large canning fac- tories handling both fruits and vegetables, two barrel factories and a number of smaller industrial enterprises. There are also in Rogers two large poultry packing houses, a number of egg buyers, several wholesale fruit and commission houses, a wholesale grocery house, capital $50,000, a dozen retail grocers and retail houses dealing in other lines, four banks, with $450,000 deposits, sanitarium and the Rogers Commercial Club. All the streets have sewers, are well graded and there are more miles of concrete sidewalks than in any town of the same population in the country. Five rural delivery routes radiate from Rogers, and three weekly newspapers are published there. The country trade is dependent largely upon the fruit-growing industry, although general farming, stock and poultry raising are impor- tant factors in the husbandry of the country. Benton County, in 1907, produced one and one-half million bushels of apples, ship- ping apples 1,000 cars, evaporated 2,000,000 pounds, strawberries 78 cars, peaches 150 cars. Rogers shipped, of green apples 164 cars, cold storage 100 cars, value $100,000; evaporated apples 40 cars, value $100,000; canned fruit 100,000 bushels; vinegar factory 61,686 bushels; strawberries shipped 20 cars, value $25,000; peaches, total crop, 72 cars, value $50,000,— Total Fruit Crop, $325,000. The average rainfall in Benton County is approximately 40 inches. According to the re- port of the Weather Bureau of the U. S. Agri- cultural Department, the average temperature for the same year was as follows: January, 42.8; February, 40.6; March, 58.4; April, 51.2; May, 60.7; June, 71.6; July, 78.0; August, 58.3. The total snowfall was 8.7 inches. These figures are a fair average of other years, and show an equable climate. The soil in the vicinity of Rogers is particu- larly adapted to fruits, although every kind of grain found in the temperate zone will thrive here. The water is of the best found in the United States and is found in springs every- where. Public health is exceptionally good in Benton County. While lands are still wonderfully cheap in Benton County, it should not be forgotten that this is a fairly well settled country. It is a country of small holdings, intensely cultivated, yielding revenues not obtainable from farms five or six times as large. Something yielding revenue every month in the year is produced and marketed and very little money is tied up in an idle acreage. There are Canneries at Neosho, Mo., Gentry, Gravette, Decatur, Siloam Springs and Rogers; Evaporators at all of these towns; Vinegar Factories at Rogers, Siloam Springs, Decatur; Cold Storage plants at Siloam Springs and Rogers, and at all points are well organized and effective Fruit Growers and Shippers Associations which handle the product in a business-like and profitable way. There is no pioneering to be done in Benton County, it is more Hke "home" than any other county in the state. Homeseekers' Round Trip Tickets To points in Benton County, Arkansas, and return, limited to twenty-five days, are on sale at very low rates, on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from points in Illinois, Wiscon- sin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri, while from points east of Illinois, the rates are slightly higher. Stop-overs, on round trip homeseekers' tickets to points south of Mena, Ark., will be allowed at Mena on both going and return trip. For Rates, address S. G. WARNER, G. P. A., Kansas City, Mo. Household Goods and Emigrant Movables The term "Household Goods and Emigrant Movables" will apply to property of an in- tending settler only and will include tools and implements of calling (including hand and foot power machines, but not including machinery driven by steam, electricity, gas, gasoline, compressed air or water, other than agricul- tural implements); second-hand store fixtures of merchants; second-hand vehicles (not in- cluding self-propelling vehicles, hearses, and similar vehicles); livestock, not to exceed ten (10) head (subject to declared valuations and premium charges); trees and shrubbery; lumber and shingles; fence posts; one portable house; seeds for planting purposes; feed for live stock while in transit, and household goods, but does not include general merchandise, nor any articles which are intended for sale or speculation. Shipments of emigrant movables must contain a sufficient quantity of furniture to make the intention of a permanent residence at destination evident. Information about Freight rates can be obtained by addressing E. E. SMYTHE, Gen. Freight Agent, Kansas City, Mo. Where to Apply for Local Information The following named parties, resident in the towns along the line, who are, however, not con- nected with the Kansas City Southern Railway in any manner, will be pleased to furnish information concerning local conditions and opportunities for business in their respective towns and cities: Sulphur Springs, Ark. — Commercial Club, C. E. Larson, Secy. C. F. Church, Real Estate. Mo. Interstate Land Co. Gravette, Ark. —Commercial Club, Herb. Lewis, Secy. Fruit & Truck Growers Association, O. J. Halliday, Secy. J. T. Oswalt, Real Estate. Decatur, Ark. — Holland-American Fruit Prod- ucts Co. Fruit Growers Association, Jno. Kuebler, Secy. J. M. Collins, J. S. Hunsaker, Real Estate. Gentry, Ark. — Fruit Growers Association, O. W. Patterson, Secy. Fruit Growers Union, Chas. Wiberg, Secy. C. C. Lale, Griffin & Wasson, Real Estate. Siloam Springs, Ark. — Fruit Growers Asso- ciation, H. W. Hubbard, Secy. Aroma Berry Company, C. A. Ford, Secy. State Bank, W. T. La Follette, cashier. Siloam Springs Commercial League, Tom Williams, Secy. Rogers, Ark. — Commercial Club. Industrial Department, K. C. S. Ry. F. E. ROESLER, Industrial and Immigration Agent Kansas City, Mo. W. C. B. ALLEN, Geologist Kansas City, Mo. J. HOLLISTER TULL, Agriculturist Siloam Springs, Ark. ^ KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY CO. TEXARKANA 6 FORT SMITH RAILWAY CO. ARKANSAS WESTERN RAILWAY CO. J. A. EDSON President J. F. HOLDEN Vice-President R. J. Mccarty Vice-President and Auditor W. COUGHLIN General Manager S. G. WARNER General Passenger and Ticket Agent E. E. SM YTHE General Freight Agent GENERAL OFFICES, KANSAS CITY, MO. RP'4¥Tii»r»iviT' w\r * J- L- BOYD General Agent BJirAUJHO.M, lt.\. ) j^ ^ MORRIS (T. & Ft. S. R'y) City Pass, and Ticket Agent CHICAGO, ILL., Marquette Bldg. H. A. GRABER General Agent DALLAS, TEX., Slaughter Bldg. A. CATUN A General Agent K^nHT oTiTiT'TT 4 BK" S H. N. HALL General Agent * uiti SMiiu, AKH. j Q -^ PITCHER City Pass, and Ticket Agent HOUSTON, TEX., Commercial Bank Building. E. E. ELMORE General Agent ( C. W. NUNN General Agent JOPLIN, MO. < S. O. LUCAS Ticket Agent ( C. S. HALL City Pass, and Ticket Agent KANSAS CITY, 3IO., 9th and Walnut Streets. E. L. MAinTN City Pass, and Ticket Agent J. C. McGINNIS, 2nd and Wyandotte Sts Depot Ticket Agent LAKE CHARLES, LA., 824 Ryan Street. F. E. HASKILL Commercial Agent J. R. MUSTAIN City Pass, and Ticket Agent MENA, ARK. G. B. WOOD General Agent NEW ORLEANS, LA., 614 Hlbernia Bank Bldg. J. M. C.\RUIERE General Agent NEW YORK, 366 Broadxvay. C. E. CRANE General Eastern Agent PITTSBURG, PA., 706 Park Bldg. D. S. ROBERTS General Agent ST. LOUIS, 3IO., Chemical Bldg. T. E. HAYWARD, Jr General Agent SAN ANTONIO, TEX., 434 Navarro St. C. M. WILKINSON Commercial Agent ( A. H. VAN LOAN General Agent SHREVEPORT, LA., Caddo Hotel Bldg. < A. B. AVERY Union Station Ticket Agent ( J. W. NORTON City Pass, and Ticket Agent SILOAM SPRINGS, ARK. J. HOLLISTER TULL Agriculturist TEXARKANA, TEX. S. G. HOPKINS (T. & S. F. R'y) Gen. Pass. Agent J. L. LONTKOWSKY (T. & It. S. R'y) City Pass.' and Ticket Agent C. O. WILLIAMS Traveling Passenger Agent F. E. ROESLER Industrial and Immigration Agent W. C. B. ALLEN Geologist THAYER BLDG., KANSAS CITY, MO. V / LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 014 433 279 9 MAP OF THE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN RAILWAY