Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-01-28

| w all American railroads have made a
W business of advertising the lands
| along their routes, and most of them have
maintained information departments, to
| which the man in search of a home or a
| farm might put his questions.
| This good work of the railroads has now
been taken over and is being co-ordinated
under a new department of the United
States Railroad Administration, known as
the Homeseekers' Bureau. This bureau, like
the ones maintained by the railroads, will
furnish free information and advice to the
intending farmer or country dweller. The
chief difference between this national bu-
reau and the old railroad departments is
that the national bureau has no interest ex
cept to tell the inquirer the truth about any
section of the country. The railroad infOr-
nation departments, being essentially means
of competition, were naturally inclined each
to make as attractive a case tas possible for
the region traversed by it's own road
There are not many organizations of value
to as many persons as the Homeseekers' Bu-
reau. It will be friend and guide to the
returned soldier jobless worker whose
desires turn to rural occupations. 1t will
aid the Department of Agriculture in reach
ing new farmers, and in disseminating the
results of it's valuable work. And not the
least of it's purposes will be to help build up
the railroads.
When the discharged soldier goes to the
station to get his ticket home, he will be
handed small printed slip telling him that
if he is interested in entering any phase OF
farm life, the Railroad Administration is
prepared to give him assistance. Ticket
offices all over the country will post these
notices. In rehabilitation centers and COM
munities where large numbers of war work
ers are apt to be turned off, the agent will
hand a notice of the Homeseekers' Bureau
to every purchaser of a ticket.
The first nine soldiers may throw the slip
away, but the tenth one may carefully pre-
serve the address. Some one has told him
of the golden opportunities awaiting the
sheep-raising farmer in northern Arkansas.
Here is a chance to find out. The Home
seekers Bureau will send him authoritative
data on the prospects for sheep raising, not
only in northern Arkansas, but in other
regions where the sheep industry is as yet
undeveloped. They will give him full in
formation in regard to the land available,
the value of it, and the terms upon which it
can be obtained. Information in regard to
the demand for wool and the ACCESSIBILITY of
such an enterprise is also forthcoming. If
the soldier becomes sufficiently interested in
the proposition, he will be placed in direct
communication with the Farm Adviser for
that section, who will help to the next stage.
Thus the Railroad Administration has &C
complshed it's work in one case. When it
over to the department of agriculture, which
will give him information about how to raise
the sheep.
In the above mentioned case, the soldier
had been correctly informed. 1t happens
that there great possibilities in sheep
raising in certain sections. But often the
city man is taken in by stories of fortunes
to be made in fig and lemon orchards, or
in cult1Vating sWamps If he really wants
to take up farming or stock raising, the
Homeseekers' Bureau will tell him frankly
the chances of success in the particular line
that attracts him
The headquarters of the Homeseekers'
Bureau will of course be in Washington,
ID. c., but its agents are located in every
state. There are about one hundred rail
road agricultural agents working for the
railroad administration, who have now been
made a part of the Homeseekers' Bureau
These agents are now engaged in collecting
data relative to their respective localities
They will make reports telling what crops
thrive. what crops are needed, the shipping
facilities, the dairy supply, the climate,
schools and Churches These reports are to