The Marietta journal and courier., 1918-02-01
WHY NOT ORGANIZED

branch of the State Agricultural De-
partment.
This particular branch is the Bu-
reau of Markets which was created
by the Legislature at its last ses-
sion and is under the charge and SUI
pervision of DR.. Lem B. Jackson as
Director.
1t is said that a great many MEM
bers of the legislature looked upon
the establishment of this bereau
largely as an experiment and this
is borne out by the fact that they
appropriated only the meager sum of
S15,0OO.OO to create and maintain
it, while the great volume of the
crops of food stuffs produced by the
farmers of the state required much
larger appropriation, that is if the
bureau should do all it was intended
for it to do, that is to aid the pro-
ducer in finding a ready and profit
able market for his produce and at
the same time to so equalize the dis
tribution of the same as to prevent
the gIutting of one market while
another only a few hundred miles
away was bare of the same article
Of food.
A few years ago the Georgia peach
growers were unorganiZed and when
one grower shipped a car of peaches
to New York and received fair
price it looked like every grower
tried to ship to the same point, the
result being that New York was glut-
ted with fruit and the price dropped
to where the shipper barely got
enough to pay the freight, whereas
there were other big markets almost
bare of the same fruit and where
good and profitable prices could have
been secured.
The peach men, seeing that thls.I
method of marketing was about to
bankrupt them, got together and or
ganized the Georgia Peach Growers
Exchange and ever since its organiz-
alton the peach growers have made
Quite number of railroads in the
state maintain a marketing bureau
in small way and are doing great
deal of good for the people living
along their lines but this serves only
a very small percentage of our peo-
pie.
The Journal thinks it was wise
step the legislature took when this
bureau was established and it is go
ing long way in aiding the farmers
in finding a ready and profitable
market for the product of their la
bor, for now they have some one at
the capitol whose business it is to
watch out for their interest; to pro-
vide them with accurate information, |
upon short notice, as to market con-
ditions; to see that the rights of the |
shipper and small producer are not
trampled upon by unscrupulous COM
mission men.
But the bureau will never accom-
plish all for which it was intended |
until the farmers of each county CO.
operate by the organization of To-
cal market associations where these
food products can be concentrated,
properly graded and packed for ship
ment to a profitable market. This
local association would be in almost
constant communication with the
Bureau of Markets and be entitled to
all information free of charge, in
fact the formation of these local as
sociations is one of the big things
the Director of Markets hopes to do.
He wants to get all of the growers
together and in harmony with each
other and give them all the advice
and assistance the state bureau is
capable of giving.
We hope to see the farmers of
Cobb County take advantage of all
this and get together at once. A To-
cal association should be formed at
Marietta, Acworth, and other main
points in the county; people should
be encouraged to grow truck crops
and through their local association
to properly classify, grade, pack and
ship, and the state market bureau
will help them to find ready and
profitable market for all they can
produce, and when this is done our
farmers will make money and be in
dependent no matter how low the |
price of cotton may hereafter go.
There is no use in producing an enor-
nous surplus of food stuffs unless
you prepare to properly grade, pack
and market it.
Last year when the government
made out the list of foods to be