The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-04-20
The Farmers OF Georgia.

We believe the farmers Of Georgia are
better farmers than they ever were before,
and they are also in a more prosperous
condition than for years.-Miiledgeviile
Union Recorder
There can be no doubt about 1t. Farming
is a progressive science. The methods en-
ployed on the farm OF to-day are as diff
ferent from those Of forty years ago as
are the methods OF manufacturing and
transportation Of the period different from
those OF forty years ago. When journeys
were made across country in stage
coaches and thrifty housewives manipu-
lated the spinning wheel and the loom.
the greater part Of the work on the farm
was performed by hand, or by tedious in
dividual effort. In very great degree
the fertiHz.ng Of fields was by rule Of
thumb" or guess work. Scientific inves-
tigation OF soils and fertilizers was not
common, as at present. and very few ag-
ricultural publications were Il circulation.
No thought was given TO the rotation of
crops, for the purpose OF giving new life
to the land. When an area of land was
worn out" # was abandoned to what
ever kind OF vegetation might spring up
on it, until such time as the slow process
Of nature reinvested it with those elements
of which cultivation had deprived it,
Farming has advanced wonderfully dur
ing the last few years. There have prob
ably been almost as many inventions for
the saving OF labor on the farm as for the
improvement OF railroad establishments
or manufacturing concerns. For all farm
work, from the milking of the COW to the
harvesting of broad acres of grain, there
are labor saving appliances to be had
One farm hand and one mule, with an
improved cultivator, can cultivate as much
cotton now as three of four could have
done fifteen or twenty years ago. For
planting. there is mechanical planter
which does the work of probably a dozen
hands under the old system. In hundred
ways the work Of the farm has been made
easier and less costly.
And the Georgia farmers are up with the
procession. They subscribe for and read
the papers. They watch the experiments
being made at the state and other expert
ment stations. and the Improvements
made in farm machinery. They have be-
come pretty good practical chemists. too,
and many of them can tell from the color
of a plant what element is lacking in the
soil, and what should be done TO replace it.
As TO their prosperity, the last census
report showed that they were more free
from debt than had probably been the
case since the war came along and inn
poverished them. And the reports of bus
mess men in all sections of the state are
to the effect that the farmers are in mucn
better circumstances now than they were
when the census enumeration was in pro-
gress. Last winter they paid off the
greater part of their debts, and very
great many of them put money in the
banks to their credit. Many did this who
had never before been out of debt. Hav-
ing tasted the sweetness of freedom from
debt one time, they will not be in a hurry
to get into debt again. Besides paying
off their debts and putting money in bank,
they filled their smokehouses with bacon
and their barns with corn and peas, and
potatoes. which puts them in position
to increase their bank accounts as a result
of this years work
No, there cannot be any doubt that the
farmers of George are better farmers and
more prosperous than they have been for
years. Nevertheless, we have in Georgia
class of politicians who are trying to
convince the farmers that they are on the
verge of bankruptcy and starvation, that
they have learned nothing for thirty or
forty years, and that they are fit only to be
classed with the poems of Mexico, the
coolies of China and the fellaheen of In
da.