The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1893-02-16
Home Markets for Home Products.
ny HON R. T. NEsBITT, COMMISSIONER OF
AGRICULTURE.
From the Southern Cultivator.


From the Southern Cultivator
In passing along the thoroughfares of
our capital city ones attention is at once
arrested by the amount and variety of
farm and garden truck displayed on
every side, fruits and vegetables as well
as the more staple products, in tempt
ing array and prOfuSe abundance greet
the pdsser-by, and to a stranger these
displays suggest local thrift, diversity of
home agriculture and attendent pros
perlty. But when we enquire from
whence come these evidences of the
farmers industry, we find that Illinois,
Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee,
California, Florida, North Carolina, all
contribute their quota of onions, tur-
| nips, butter, hay, apples, eggs, poultry,
| potatoes, ground peas, and that the
Georgia farmers, who could largely CON
troll this market, have scarcely a crate
| of vegetables or a box of eggs.
Atlanta pays out every year at least
five or six hundred thousand dollars for
truck and vegetables, nearly every dol
I lar Of which should belong to Georgia
farmers, and yet it is doubtful if they
get One-tenth part of that amount
Surely if these farmers from the
| frozen regions of the west, where land
| sells anywhere from ten to fifty times as
high as in Georgia, can make and ship
; butter, Tor instance, and realize hand
some profit, Georgia farmers, with
| cheaper land, open winters and compar-
atively nominal freight, ought to make
more.
Our manufacturing population is in
creasing each year, and as time moves
on the demand for such articles will in
crease correspondingly. Cannot Geor-
gia farmers prepare to meet this de-
mand? There are hundreds of acres of
land now idle or worse, that could be
made to pay handsome interest, if in
diligently and carefully managed.
Wherever q first-class article is pro-
duced, it makes a market for itself. A
few years ago the Georgia peach and
the Georgia melon had no place in the
general market, but by sheer force of
excellence. they have made their way,
and are now universally recognized and
sought.
This is not the result of mere per-
| functory gathering and throwing to-
gether of few crates of peaches, or a
| few carloads of melons. but it repre-
sents the success browning business,
which has been studied and arranged
for in its minutest detail.
| Let not the farmer delude himself
into the belief that he can produce an
] inferior article and command high
price, and let him not underrate the
effect of careful handling and prepare
ton for market. Often there is a wide
margin of difference in the price of two
articles, whose intrinsic value is the
same, owing to the fact that one is more
carefully handled and more temptingly
arranged than the other. In business
of this kind, after a solid foundation
has been laid, and the preliminary work
done, the success or failure of the I'M
dertaking depends largely on whether
the important details of handling and
marketing have been intelligently and
carefully studied, and faithfully exc
cuted
Let us set our wits to work to over.
come the difficulties and grasp the bene-
fits which lie in our reach. In view of
these difficulties and our want of ex-
perience, let us study methods of prepa-
ration of planting, of gathering and
preparing for market. Seek informa-
ton from every attainable source, and
having done this, study the markets
| themselves, for the successful truckman
knows not only how to produce first
class goods, but also how to sell them to
! the best advantage,