The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-17
For the Good of
 the Community


 J bushels of sweet potatoes in 1918, val ued by F. w. Gist, field agent, bureau of crop estimates, United States department of agriculture, Auburn, at S642,000, or S1.18 a bushel.
 F'ifty-seven hundred acres were planted to sweet potatoes, making the average yield per acre 95.44 bushels and the money value S112.61 to the acre.
 It has been estimated that because of improper handling 40 per cent of the sweet potatoes raised in Alabama rot every year.
 Assuming that the same ratio maintains in Jefferson county as in the state as a whole, the annual loss in Jefferson county due to rot is 217,00O bushels of the value of $256768.
 The population of Jefferson county is a little more than 300,000 Therefore, the an- nual loss per capita due to ignorance or careless handling of sweet potatoes, is ap- proximately 85 cents
 A bushel or two rotting here and there seems small matter but when considered in the aggregate, as the figures above show, it is big sum for even a populous and wealthy county like Jefferson to sus- tain every year.
 The agriculture and marketing commit tee of Birmingham has started campaign for better marketing facilities in every community in the state. Especial atten- tion is being given to sweet potatoes be- cause of the fact that this is one of the big crops of Alabama, the annual yield ex- ceeding that of any other state in the union.
 The total yield in the state in 1918 was 14758,000 bushels, valued at S13,228,000, forty per cent of which is S5,291 ,000. That is equivalent to about 220 for every man, woman and child in the state. This is a dead loss that could be avoided by proper >care.
 In recent survey of Cullman5 county made by Secretary T. P. Hay, IT,, of the ag- riculture and marketing committee and L. C. Jennings of the Southern Bell Tele- phone company, it was discovered that sweet potato culture in that county is highly profitable.
 One hundred and fifty carloads are shipped from Cullman annually to mar kets throughout the south and the north, and because of the care exercised in their handling, the protection from varying weather conditions and the care in grad ing them, they are bringing top prices in whatever market they are sold.
 Organization, cooperation and educa- tion brought about this condition in Gull man county and the same results can be obtained in any other county by following the same methods.
 By organization, cooperation and edu- cation S256,000 can be saved every year in Jefferson county on this crop alone, and S5,291 ,000 can be saved annually in the state. f*~
 The bankers and the merchants in the smaller cities and towns have promised to cooperate with the agriculture and marketing committee in bringing before the farmers the importance of proper handling, not only of the sweet potato crop, but all other agricultural products in the state.
 It is good work the agriculture and marketing committee has undertaken and if pursued systematically and consistently it will not be many years until the annual saving in Alabama crops will amount to many million dollars in addition to those saved on sweet potatoes.
 These millions have been thrown away in other years and to that extent the peo-