Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-07-24
OUR PRIMARY NEED.

OUR PRIMARY NEED.
The future of our agriculture may
appear to be unpromising to many
The progress we make will be deter
mined by the degree Of educationa
advancement attained in the next few
years. The reorganization of oul
agriculture is inevitable. We mus
do this to keep step with the prog.
ress Of our civilization and the de
mand Of the world for raw materials
and cheap though profitably raised
foods.
Success will rest most largely upor
the shoulders of those who in the
next decade purchase and use the
most improved types of implements
Power farming is now about to sue
coed what in the halcyon days of the
West was termed bonanza" farming
implements of large size and of more
or less complicated mechanism are
destined to displace much of the la
Dor previously employed. This is as
it should be in an age of scientific
advancement and development such
as the one in which we live. Through
the use of implements, agriculture
desirable vocation. Much of the
drudgery and labor can be removed
from it.
With a minimum of labor of high
Intelligence, greatly increased areas
of land may be brought under the
plow, rotation systems established
and part of the uncertainty which
makes many people regard agricul-
IRE as a semi-hazardous business
,ssaninated. Through the applicati ton
- ssientific knowledge to the prac-
tice of the farm, a part of the fright
full waste of effort now witnessed
will be prevented.
Plant diseases and insect pests will
be overcome and brought under de-
sirable measure of control. Yields
will be greatly increased through the
application of the principles of seed
selection and plant breeding. Better
types Of animals will be evolved, and
types of both plants and animals bet
ter adapted to our soils and climatic
conditions will be bred. When this
is accomplished through the leader
ship of capable experts, cooperation
can be made reality instead of a
dream and the business of the farm
adjusted and put on a thoroughly
constructive basis.
Through cooperative efforts, the
problem of marketing crops will be
achieved and thus the farmer will
come into his own, and will be en-
abled to make a profitable dividend
each year in his operations. When
this is done. the future of the open
country will be assured, and our key
industry established on basis which
can not be shaken. We will have
solved the problem of maintaining
an adequate proportion of our popu-
lation in the country to supply the
needs of urban jewellers with both
food and raw materials. This is a
national problem of the gravest con-
Germ. 1t is recognized by all students
OF our present economic situation.
In spite of the indiffere -ce evil
denced in some quarters, everyone is
intimat ely concerned with the FROG
ress of our agriculture because it
constitutes the chief source from
which we obtain raw materials and
it is the only avenue from which we
derive the SuStenance essential to
human beings. The nutrition of our
people and hence their virility is de-
pendent upon the character and adj
vancement of our agricultural prac-
tice.
industries to supply the needs of
our population effectively and at a
moderate cost is measured by the eff
ficiency of the production attained
on our farms. Unless we have an
abundance of raw materials, We can
not compete successfully in the mar
kets of the world with the cheap
labor of foreign countries where the
standards of living are much below
those prevailing in this country.
Hence our foreign policy in the
future will be determined by the
skill anu SUCCESS dIl6IlulIS lIc SI-
forts of those who till our soils.
Moreover, the future destiny of the
nation is to be measured largely by
their effort, for as the cost of foods
increases beyond a certain point, the
producers of other countries will
send their surplus to our shores and
we will eventually become nation
dependent upon outside sources of
supply. This, it seems to- mes would
be the most unfortunate thing which
could happen to our country. Yet,
I believe these deductions are sound
and will stand the acid test of time.
So, it is evident that the time has
come in our history when we must
center, in fairness and justice to the
welfare of our country, a greater
part of our energy and effort on
the solution of the problems of the
education more literally and thereby
develop the leaders necessary to
bring about the conditions I have en-
deavored to portray as essential to
our national welfare.
The elimination of waste is one of
the problems on which we should
concentrate our effort with an in
tensity of purpose which has not
characterized our actions in the past.
A careful and conservative survey
of the situation indicates, for in
stance, that our losses last year on
and live stock aggregated. the huge
sum Of more than one hundred mil
lion dollars. In other words we de-
veloped crops and animals worth this
huge sum. The values thus repre-
scented existed in actual, tangible
form. We could see and feel and
hear them, and yet through careless
ness, Indifference or lack of business
capacity we permitted this marvel
Gus stream of gold to pass unchecked
through our hands. So it was lost
forever to the men and women of
Georgia.
If 1t could have been saved and
put into educational avenues, what a
benefit it would have represented
and how effectively could we have
changed the whole face and condition
Of our farms! The interesting part
Of this statement lies in the fact that
at least two-thirds of this wealth
could have been saved without the
expenditure of any very great sum
of money. The means by which it
could have been accomplished are al
ready well known and their practi-
cability has been clearly established
Why does this waste go on? Be
cause it's nature and extent is not