Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1919-02-11


South for the army, it was difficult to
ship supplies into this section because
of the demands of the environments,
everything was submerged beneath
the one dominating purpose. But de-
spite all that, tick eradication in 1917
broke all records, and in 1918, we
found that 1917 was nearly 5000
square miles too slow.
Much of the credit for these rec
ord-breaking accomplishment belongs
to you, the representatives of the fed
eral government in the fight against
the tick. But We should be vain and
foolish If we tried to appropriate all.
or even most, of the credit We must
give full recognition, in the first place.
to the cooperative work of the state
governments and state agricultural
colleges, and the county governments.
We must acknowledge the aid of such
organizations as the Southern Cattle
mems association, the Texas Cattle
| Raisers' association. the Southern Set
| Element and Development organiza>
| ton, the Georgia Land Owners asso-
| citation, and the Southern Pine asso-
citation. We must recognize the con
sistent and clear-sighted support of
the daily and weekly newspapers and
| the agricultural and live stock jour
nails of the South, without whose aid
we might still be battling with preju-
dice everywhere. And we must give
| due credit to the associations of the
bankers and other business men who
have led their communities to a real
ization of the benefits of tick eradica-
ton.
| More than that, we must, every
one, take our hats off to the farmers,
| live stock raisers, and other people,
in general, Of the South. We must
remember that while these people
were helping tick eradication, they
were not only buying Liberty bonds,
subscribing to the Red Cross and other
organizations, and sending their sons
to war, but were accomplishing nota-
bic things in raising the food crops
that were regarded as essential to a
| strong America. When the slogan,
The South Must Feed Itself was
sounded, the farmers of the South
answered. Before the war the South
imported annually about 100000 600
worth of corn, hay, grains, mixed feed,
flour, meat and meat products, dairy
products, poultry and poultry products
and canned goods There has been a
great change. In 1918 the Is Southern
staten, including all the tick-infested
states, produced 1887 900 bushels
more of corn than they harvested in
1909. The eleven states comprising
the cotton belt produced 1876 per cent.
more wheat in 1918 than in 1909. These
same states during the same period
increased their oat crop 1873 per cent. !;
their hay yield, 1913 per cent; Irish
potatoes, III per cent; and sweet po-
tatoes, 81 per cent. The same ten>
dency is shown in live stock produc-
ton. AS an instance, in 1914 Missis-
sippi marketed only 1929 fat cattle,
while in 1916 it shipped 156,237 ami
mails to the st. Louis market, an in
crease of 181 per cent.
When we look back over what has
been done, and consider that we are
sure of the increasingly strong sup
port of the Southern people who have
done such great things. there is no
reason whatever to fear that tick Grad
ication will not win the most complete
success, and that through tick eradi-
cation the South will become the live
stock section that it should be by rea-
, son of its climate and other natural
advantages.
; THE achievements of past years,
however, now are history. We have
met here to plan the 1919 campaign.
, My notion of what should be done this
> year, must be done. and what will
be done, Is this:
, make 1919 the Worst Year for the
Tick.
: 1T can be done. There are no can'ts
, in this fight. Tick eradication is well
. past the halfway mark, and it is at
. high tide. INSCRIPTIONS politicians
, who formerly waved the dipping vat as