Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-09-19

tent observer as saying that within the
next ten years there will be ten times
as many cattle and hogs produced IN the
Southern States in the last live years TO-
gether'' 1t would be hard to overgauge the
significance of this prospect, either as II con-
Germs the South or the country at large.
To animal husbandry owe in large meas
IRE the happy revolution which has wrought
upon this regions agriculture in late years
The planting of food crops, 1t is true, IuF-
nished the foundation of that new order IN
which cotton no longer is king but the serV-
ant it ought to be. Still, without the prac-
teal incentive which live stock industries az
forded those food crops would not have Deen
raised in steadily widening abundance. II
more corn makes possible more hogs, it is
Just as true that more hogs will make prof.
liable more corn. When planters began to
realize that they could convert crops into
pork and beef for which there would be
market far less shifty and far more remuner-
alive than that for cotton, then did the era
of diversification and independence begin in
earnest.
But it has scarcely more than oegun'
Though Georgia now stands second among
hog-producfng States and keeps at home mil
lions of dollars which she once spent IN the
distant West for food needments, she mas
but scratched the surface OIL nef resources
in this realm of production. so win ner
neighboring CommOnwealths. II these re-
skill. the next decade assuredly will see ten
times as many cattle and hogs in the South
as were raised here during the last i've
years together And the corresponding I'M
provement in agricultural and economic con-
ditions will be no less pronounced. Many
a farm and many a community has been
converted from a. credit to cash basis IN
consequence of having changed from an all
cotton to diversified system of production.
AS animal husbandry extends and its related
food crops increase, these fortunate trans
formations will become more and more fire.
quent until the county that has to wait for
prosperity upon the cotton season will be
a curious exception. Every season will yield
some bounty of field or herd or flock. Thus
the planter will be Independent the year
around, and trade will have steady cash
stimulus. Imagine the prosperity when this
condition, now prevalent in the more ad
Fanced rural sections, becomes general
throughout the South Imagine the better
ment in farm methods and living standards,
and the increase both of contentment and
ambition!
This is prospect of happy augury for the
country at large 1t is such, not simply be-
cause good times in one region will rebound
as a rule to the benefit to all, but for more
specific and practical reason. That persist
emit national problem, the cost of living, will
be markedly simplified when the resources
and energies of the South are doing full duty
in the field of food production. Special stu
dents tell us that Georgia and her near neigh
bors constitute one Of the few sections of the
United States where beef can be produced
at all cheaply and where, accordingly, the
problem of living-costs in this important
item can be confidently attacked. The same
thing is largely true of dairying. Mild Win
tiers, abundant pasturage, and convenience
to market centers go to make this Southern
country the most promising of all zones for
the industries to which Americans look for
their milk, butter and meat. Years ago far
sighted investors saw the situation as it now
is developing. Years hence many will
der why they did not see it at even this
day and did not grasp the opportunity. Ger
tainly it is ''Southward ho!" for thousands
who now see the ever increasing part which
this region is to play in the nations for
tunes.