The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-28
FERTILIZER OUTPUT SHORT.
COMMISSIONER STEVENS DISCUSSES
THE AGRICULTURA SITUATION.

J VIII BE Reduced-The Corn Acre
rye Increased and Farmers show
ing More Disposition 10 Raise
Their own suppIies-Western Far
mers Coming Into the state 10 En-
gage in Raising Small Fruits-Cat-
tie Raising Also on the Increase.
The Peach Crop a Total Failure
and other Fruit Crops Bat Little
Better on.
Hon. o. z. Stevens, commissioner o. az
rscultlre, spent yesterday In the city. In
! sr-sctfng the local fertilizer factories He
/ VIII continue his Inspections to-day.
! i am making q tour % the state for
this purpose" said 2Ir. Stevens. There
/ IS no law requiring ne to inspect fertilizer
! factories. but thought that It came prop
| eriy within my jurisdiction and that It
would be wen for me to visit the factories
| and famnisrize myself with their work
/ ings and especially to see If they we're US
/ Ing materials Of the proper grade and
! standard In the manUfac ture Of their prod
ucLs The various fertilizer compounds
I uzed IN this state are built Up from a num-
/ Der OF different bases, and il is a matter
| Of importance 10 the farmers OF the state
/ That the materials used should be OF the
| quality TO produce the desired results"
| What has been the results Of your in
| TestLgatlons?" Nr. Stevens was asked
| With one or two exceptions, have found
| che factories using materials OF good quail
| IT, The materials II hich I found in use
| IN the Savannah factories are fully up to
| the standard"
As 10 the conditions in the fertilizer bus
| mess in the state and the amount Of fer
| tlllzeFs likely TO be used this year, Nr.
| Stevens said: The amount Of fertilizers
| Osed IN Georgia last year was $500 tons.
/ DO not think more than - per cent Of
this amount viii be used this year. The
| business As considerably behind that Of
| last year. the output 20 date being 60 per
| cent Of the output up to the same date
last year The Georgia factories have
/ nothing 70 complain Of, however They
| VIII sell every pound of material they Of
| fer The outside factories have fallen con-
| siderably short in tneir shipments. As
get reports from each one Of these facto-
ries. showing not only amount shipped.
| but the names Of the parties to whom il is
| shipped my Information on this subject is
| accurate"
| Mr.. Stevens said be did not attribute the
decreased use Of fertilizers TO the bad
weather prevailing In the early part OF rhe
| season, but rather 10 the ihdisposition of
the farmers to continue raising cotton
| heavily present prices. "As to whether
| there viii he any decrease in the cotton
| acreage IL is too early to say" said he
Tine planting season has hardly begun
| YET Very large crops Of wheat and oats
were planted by the farmers last fan.
| These were greately damaged by the
| freeze and il is not unlikely that some OF
this damaged grain viii Be piowed under
and cotton planted instead. The reports
show an Increased corn acreage through
out the state Of about 10 per cent"
There seems to be more general deter
rsinaton among the farmers" continued
Mr. Stevens, TO raise their hog and hon-
iny a home This is the point thar am
laying most stress upon II our farmers
VIII raise their supplies at home and make
cotton a surplus crop the old state will
soon begin 20 bloom The newspa pers
i have done good work on this line. but the
lesson has not been fully learned yet. Our
farmers are IN no worse condition than
they have been for the last three or four
years. The low price OF cotton is their
main trouble and they have been no worse
hurt by this than have other industries
throughout the state. AS soon as our
farmers learn 10 make cotton a surplus
crop they win be independent no matter
what the price OF cotton may be. and We
VIII hear less about hard times.
- very hopeful feature" said Mr.. Stew
ems lis the number OF settlers who are
coming into the state Inquiries are con-
, stanty being received at my Office. chiefly
from the West. by farmers who are con-
sidering locating in Georgia. They in
quire about the climate, the soil. the price
OF lands and other matters OF interest to
settlers. I came down on the train Friday
with quite a party Of farmers from ILL
nois and Indiana who were on their way
to Baconton, in Southwest Georgia. where
they viii engage in the growing Of small
fruits chiefly strawberries. The raising of
small fruits is a very promising industrv
in this state and one in which the new set.
tiers are largely interested.
'Cattle-ralsing is looking up to- The
chief need now Is for cold storage, where
l the farmers can obtain a steady market
for their cattle. Two cold storage ware,
houses have been established, one al Al
lanta and the other a Valdosta. ana bot,
! are doing we'll Americas is to have a coLl
/ storage plant soon, and an enterprtsing cit
, lien OF Marietta Is preparing to esta blisn
a plant there.
There Will he no peach crop in Geor-
! gia this year. That is positive said Mr.
Stevens. Some people are deceived nv
the appearance of blooms on the trees
, nut an examination Of the bloom will show
! Il at the distal~at the base, which forms
the peach, is dead. The folks At bame
" al hardly have any to eat and there
VIII be none TO ship. There will be a fav
pears and plums. but not many. soms
az pies and few cherries We win mis-.
the hg crop entirely The trees at INV
place, near Griffin, were killed to ths
ground.
The interest in dairy farming is in
creasng and this promises to be- one q,
= the growing industries of the state"
Mr. Stevens says that the state fair
which is to be held ia Atlanta tbis fan
is going 10 be success. Much interes,
is being shown. and 1t is intended 10 mako
I it the most creditabIe fair the state has
\ ever given. The fair Is intended for the
benefit of the whole state. and il NOT ~
be a mere local affair" said he.
Mr. Stevens Is plain man Of the peo-
! pie. There Is no ostentation about him
and he likes TO meet the people. He al
. ready has a number OF friends here and
! this number increases VITA each vis,,
which he makes to the city. He keeps In
] close touch with the farmers, and beJieves
in famlliarizing himself with everything
/ mir bFe