Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-12-07

some extent the output OF machinery
which we have been able to secure at
comparatively low prices and without
special effort on our part in the past.
The present price of cotton is eXerting
a disorganizing effect on our agricul-
ture. 1t has brought a plethora of
money into the south and is lulling our
people 10 sleep. There is general I'M
preston that cotton will bring big
price in the immediate future on account
of worlds shortage of this staple,
a we will not need to diversity
or ourselves in the matter of gen.
er and live stock production as
mt xt year as we did in 1917. 1t
will calamity of the first magnitude
should this idea take root in Georgia
and the south in general, for the we'll
known shortage of food throughout the
world makes it more essential than ever
that we produce our own supplies in the
greatest abundance and become thor
oughly self-sustaining and source from
which the United States and our allies
can draw surplus supplies, not only OF
cotton, but of general farm crops ana
live stock.
Ii therefore behooves Us to take
thought Immediately and make plans
for 1918 that it may be the greatest
agricultural year in the history or the
state If we do this and are favored
with reasonably good weather condl-
tons, Georgia can make response
which will be a surprise even to our
own land owners. To accomplish
task of this kind is not easy and there
fore we should attempt to fortity our
selves to secure all the available lnfor-
nation, advice and suggestions we can
obtain for the betterment of our agri-
cultural practice This being true, the
state has through it's college of agrt-
culture provided short courses Tor
farmers commencing January and con-
Guiding on January II. These courses
are free in so far as tuition is con-
cerned The cost including railroad
fare from many points in Georgia need
not be in excess of $25. Several hun
dred people have in the past attended
these courses and there is every reason
TO believe that there will be as large
a gather at Athens this winter as us
nal. Those coming to these courses
have secured essential information
about a great variety of subjects in
which they werH intensely interested.
For instance, one man who came to the
college desired to establish an alfalfa
field He knew nothing about this
plant or how to prepare the ground
seed and fertiliZe it. He did not even
know that alfalfa required to be lqocu-
lated, and had spent considerable
amount of money trying for several
wears to start an alfalfa patch. his
failures were so frequent and so expen-
siye that he about concluded this crop
could not be grown successfully In
Georgia. By some sort of intuition he
decided to come up to Athens and see
IL he could learn anything through the
medium of the short course. He was
narticularly anxious to gather lnforma-
ton about alfalfa, and so ne stuoled
this subject with the aid OF the experts
at his command as thoroughly as pos
sible He saw that alfalfa was growing
on the college farm and had been cul-
tivated with success for some years
past With the information he thus ac-
uuired he went back home, prepared his
land and seeded il i'm the fall, and to his
delight and surprise he secured a per-
feet stand and has now been growing
alfalfa successfully for many years. he
has secured an average of five cuttings
q year and yield of five tons or cured
hav. which at the very modest price
of s25 ton has given him a return OF
s1a5 year. 1t cost him about S25
TO get this information, though he had
wasted several times this amount in
nreyious efforts to grow alfalfa without
success.
hundred different ways in which the col
lcge has been able through its free
courses of instruction to farmers to put
them on the right track when failure
seemed imminent, to teach them how TO
propag gate a new crop successfully, 10
bring a new industry into their COM
n.unity and to establish an infection
spot from which the idea of the Guilt
vation Of alfalfa, for instance. will be
To oil in the COM
munity.
Courses of instruction free to the cit
tzens of any state which are capable of
ACCOMPLISHING results of this kind sure
lv should be patronized to the fullest
extent. and they would be if the farm
ers understood the kind of service which
the College of Agriculture is in position
20 render them through it's short
COURSES. 1t is for this reason that
space has been taken to detail the pos
sihilities OF agricultural education when
applied to the solution of the many
problems now confronting our agricul-
ture. 1t is manifest, for instance, to all
thoughtful citizens that the maintenance
Of crop production on a basis adequate
for national needs is to be accomplished
in the next few years chiefly through
the increased use of farm machinery
The courses at Athens are designed to
provide farmers with the special infor-
nation they need along these particular
lines. AZ present farmers say they can
not use machinery because it is compli-
Gated and difficult of repair, but the
man who will spend ten days in Athens
this winter will learn how to use all
kinds of machines effectively. Every
farmer who can be induced to give time
to the subject of machinery and learn
something new about it becomes a Nalu-
able and useful asset to the state.
For several years now it has been
difficult to secure potash at prices which
would Justify it's use in OUR asricul-
ture. II is known to be one OF our
essential elements of plant food. Farm
ing without potash is a rather diftlcuit
undertakihg One of the things whlch
IS emphasized particularly in the short
course is the use of commercial fertll-
izers and the management and handling
of the soil in relation thereto so as TO
insure the largest return TO the lano
owner Any farmer who will come up
and take the series of lectures on ter-
tiIizers will secure information worth
several times the entire cost OF the
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