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GEORGIA. and monumental work are quarried, and the State's resources in this stone are inexhaustible. Among the other mineral products of Georgia are silver, copper, pyrite, graphite, asbestos, talc, mica, barite, slate, marl, limestone, and sandstone.

. The marble-quarries had no commercial value prior to 1884. Prior to 1894 the annual value of the product was less than $300,000, but in that year it advanced to over $700,000, where it has since remained. The granite-quarries yield an annual product valued at more than $400,000. Some limestone is quarried and converted into lime. The output of coal for the last decade in the nineteenth century averaged about $250,000 annually; that of iron ore almost reached that amount. The total gold production of the State from 1829 to 1900, inclusive, is estimated at $16,891,000; the recent production amounts to about $150,000 in annual value. Bauxite, first mined in 1889, has, during the decade, varied from 1000 to 7000 tons in annual production. The State produces nearly one-half the manganese obtained in the United States.

. There were in 1897 1800 men employed in the fisheries of Georgia, and the product for that year was valued at $170,600, an increase of 38 per cent. over 1890. Oysters and shad constituted the bulk of the catch.

. Agriculture is the leading industry of the State. Of the total land area 69.9 per cent. (1900) is included in farms, and of this 40.2 per cent. is improved. The largest farm acreage recorded was in 1860, but the largest improved acreage was reached in 1900, a large increase having been made in each decade since 1870. The large plantations have been broken up and rented to negro farmers. The average size of farms has consequently decreased until in 1900 it was 117.5 acres, a little over one-fourth as large as that in 1850, while the rented farms have increased rapidly in number, amounting in 1900 to 59.9 per cent. of the total. About 37 per cent. of the farms are operated by colored farmers, and over 86 per cent. of these are rented. The negro farmer limits himself largely to the raising of cotton—being encouraged in this by the prevailing system of crop mortgaging, and by his disinclination to adopt new methods. As a result three-fourths of the total number of farms cultivated by negroes are rented and devoted to the raising of cotton.

In the swampy regions in the southern part of the State there is much waste land, and also in the mountains of the northern part. Between these two sections lies the cotton belt. The total area devoted to cotton exceeds that of any other crop, amounting in 1899 to 41.8 per cent. of the total crop area, and yielding 50.7 per cent.

of the total crop receipts. The Civil War resulted in a decrease in the area devoted to cotton, but since 1870 every decade has shown an increase. For several years Greorgia has ranked second among the cotton-growing commonwealths. Georgia is the largest producer of sea-island cotton, although this variety covers less than five per cent. of its cotton-growing area. Cotton has been so long king in Georgia that little improvement was observed as regards general agriculture until latterly, when there has been a marked advance. Cereals are of especial importance in the northern part of the State. Corn, the leading cereal, as indicated above, represents almost five times the area of all the other cereal crops. In the last decade of the century the acreage of corn increased 34.7 per cent. Oats and wheat are of about equal importance. In the last decades of the nineteenth century there were large decreases in the acreage of oats, and in the period 1880-90 this decrease was also shared by wheat, which, however, revived in the following decade. The yield per acre of cereals is small. Rice constitutes an important crop in the coast counties, where in 1900 63.4 per cent. of its entire acreage was located. The hay and forage crops are relatively of little importance. Sugar-cane is grown in increasing quantities, and the larger part of the crop is used in the manufacture of syrup. Some sorghum is also raised. Georgia ranks second among the States in the raising of peanuts, the area devoted to them having almost doubled in the decade 1890-1900, the extreme southern counties being the largest producers. In recent years fruit and vegetable growing has increased rapidly. The sweet potato is the most important vegetable, in the production of which the State ranks next to North Carolina. Owing to its situation, the State commands the earliest Northern markets for vegetable and fruit products. The State ranks first in the production of watermelons, with an acreage of 27,874 reported in 1900. The number of peach-trees increased from 2,787,000 in 1890 to 7,668,000 in 1900, constituting in the latter year 68.2 per cent. of the total number of fruit-trees of all varieties. Small plants are not extensively cultivated.

The following comparative table, taken from the census returns of 1900, includes the most important farm crops and varieties of farm annuals, and shows the changes which have occurred during the decade ending with that year:

. As is common in regions where cotton is the principal crop, stock-raising is not of very great importance. While there was a significant increase in the industry during the last decade of last century, it has not regained the prominence it held prior to the Civil War. With the exception of mules and asses, more