The City of Montgomery is surrounded by a greater variety of valuable agricultural lands than any city in the South, being situated on the south bank of the Alabama river, just below the confluence of the Coosa and Talapoosa rivers, all of which streams are bordered by very rich farming lands. Some of the alluvial bottoms are subject to occasional overflows, but the second bottoms are above the effects of freshets and form beautiful flats, in some places several miles wide, of sandy loam with clay subsoil, making a most valuable land for general farm purposes, as it is easily tilled and susceptible of great improvement by manuring and a good system of farming. The rich black prairie belt touches us on the south and certainly contains some of the finest and most productive lands in the Union. It is just undulating enough to afford good drainage. The prairie soil is naturally so rich that fertilizers have been used very little, and the all-cotton system of farming which has been practiced almost to the exclusion of every other crop since 1865, has impoverished the farmers to such an extent that large prairie farms have been turned over entirely to negro tenants. This has resulted in a complete failure as a system, as the negro without a white man for a director, is not capable of making a living for himself or rents for his landlord. These magnificent lands can now be bought for about $10 to $15 per acre, and are certainly better adapted to stock raising than any other section of the continent, being splendid grain lands for such crops as oats and corn, yielding from twenty-five to 100 bushels per acre. [Illustration: Alabama Oil Mill] [Illustration: Montgomery Oil Mill] Johnson grass flourishes here as a hay grass, yielding from one and a half to two tons per acre, without any trouble of re-seeding, and sells in home market for $15 per ton. Bermuda grass for pasturage is unsurpassed by any grass in the world, as it affords good grazing for eight months in the year, and will keep fat one horse or cow per acre for that length of time. Another valuable characteristic of the Bermuda grass is that it never runs out as a pasture. Some pastures are now in fine condition that were sodded thirty years ago. Another important advantage of this section, for stock raising, is that our winters are so mild that stock does not need housing, except that it is better to provide open sheds for protection from rain, and they feed on the cane which grows on all branches and streams, staying green all the year. When a specialty is made of stock raising it is well to provide some ensilage to feed at night through the winter, in connection with the cane pasturage. While some of our farmers are paying more attention each year to stock raising, as a general thing the prairie farms are rented to negro tenents, and now is a splendid opportunity to buy them cheap and devote to grass and stock. [Illustration: The Southern Cotton Oil Co.'s Mill at Riverside Park.