Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-08-27
Georgia S Bumper Harvest

AS round and golden the full moon in the
east stretches Georgias horn of plenty as the days
draw on toward autumn. Soon we will be in the
thick of harvest time with its fairs, sales and
busy workers in the fields. And long before 1.-The
frost is on the pumpkin and the folders in the
shock" the state will have reaped one of the most
bountifuI yields in its history.
Reports from the state department of sgricul-
ture. newspapers in half hundred counties and
from the United States government ITSELF all indi-
cate that Georgia has more than done its snare
in the production of foods and staples of all kinds
and that the state and the people of the state will
prosper accordingly.
Cotton rules as king as never before. With the
world demand for the fleecy staple never greater
Georgia will furnish crop estimated conserva-
lively at $3.50, 900 bales. The prolonged drouth
this summer, together with the boil weevil, has
initiated to some degree against the cotton crop,
but damage in Georgia has been less than in prac-
ticaIIy all the other cotton-growing states. For
almost the first time in history, Georgia will ap-
proach very near to the cotton production OF Texas
And from its crop, considering the seed as well as
the lint revenue of no less than $500 100000 is
expected; truly royal sum!
More reason has Georgia to be proud, however,
of its food raising record. The increase in food
J. j. Brown. state commissioner of agriculture,
that Georgia is actually feeding itself and more.
Food and feed acreage is greater than at any
period in the states history. Imports have been
cut nearly in half and exports have increased in
ratio. This has been done, too, without any great
reduction of the cotton acreage, proving that the
development in the cultivation of Georgia's lands
has been something remarkable.
The states standard crops of corn, velvet
beans, peas. cane. sorghum and others have been
above normal. South Georgia has reaped millions
from its melon and fruit crops. At the time
there has been a marked turning to crops hitherto
comparative strangers to the land. In certain
counties OF southeast Georgia tobacco has been
raised in such quantities and of such high quality
that one hundred thousand pounds from Georgia
were recently sold the North Carolina market
at thirty-five cents Z pound. Farmers
preparing to increase their wheat acreage in
accordance with government request 1t might
also be mentioned in passing that Georgia honey
a sweet increasing in Importance by reason of the
sugar shortage-recently scld in New York at
$1,000 for one hundred barrels, this from but one
Georgia apisry.
Time when Georgia imported the greater
part of its meats from the west. Recent years
have phenomenal change in this respect In
1910 but thirty-three Georgia counties raised
enough hogs TO sell meat out of their own COM
munities. Today seyenty-five Georgia counties are
exporting hogs by the carload. Members of the
boys and girls pig clubs marketing pigs this
fall at $500 the pair which cost them $50 pair
year ago 1t is estimated that the pig clubs will
produce this year more than ten million pounds of
dressed pork for the market
What is true of hogs is equally true of cattle
The sandy, loamy soil OF south Georgia, where the
velvet bean fOurishe5, has been found be one of
the finest cattle countries in the world. 1t is
cheaper to maintain herds in first-cass condition
in south Georgia than anywhere else in the United
States, according 10 cattlemen in this section
Altogether. Georgia begins the harvest season
with glowing prospects The chief drawback, and
really the only serious problem. is the shortage of
labor. The farmer. his wife and his children have
toiled like beavers from sunup to shutdown. Facing
a greater task than any they have yet met-the
task of gathering the great yield which they have
made possible-they find themselves tremendously
handicapped. Only by the granting of furloughs
to many farmer boys possible in the army
and by the diverting OF all non-essential labor
from the city to the country, Georgia put into
her Golfers the wealth of the fields that awaits
her