Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-10-11
Seeking the Facts to So1ve
4 Paramount Georgia Problem

4 Paramount Georgia Problem,
TN hope of rendering the Commonwealth
a much needed service The Journal has
undertaken, with the invaluable aid OF
the Country Bankers Association Of Georgia,
to ascertain and present the salient facts on
what is described by high official of that
body as "the most serious problem which
confronts the commercial and agricultural
interests of the State.'
He refers to the grievous lack of markets
for Georgia food products. While cotton can
be converted into cash, or readily made
basis for credit, in any town with mercantile
and banking facilities, other crops, although
intrinsically as valuable, will ofttimes lie
dead weight on the growers hands. This
autumn, for instance, the States harvest of
corn, as estimated by the federal Department
of Agriculture, will brim to ninety-one mill
lion four hundred thousand bushels, an I'M
exampled yield for this region, which should
be worth at current prices upwards of eighty
million dollars Yet, amid this golden plen-
ty, Georgia grain dealers still buy corn from
the distant West, while farmers here look
in bewilderment upon their bursting cribs. 1t
is not that the dealers prefer the Western
product; contrariWise, they would far rather
buy at home, if for no other reason, to save
the cost of long freight hauls. But whereas
the corn of the West is easily procurable In
carload lots, carefully graded and standard
lied, Georgia corn is scattered amongst null
titudes of growers who do not grade or
standardize and for whom there are no es-
tablished channels through which their
various quantities and qualities Of grain can
be centralized, assorted, and made conyen-
iently available to large buyers.
This is but one among myriad examples
of the problem which the country bankers
rightly consider the most serious now con-
fronting the states agricultural and COM
mercial interests. It is serious to agricul-
ture because farmers cannot afford to raise
diversified crops for which there are not
diversified markets. Imperative reasons, OF
which the boil weevil is only one, call upon
Georgia to turn to other harvests than cotton
for mainstay. The first principles Of ag-
ricultural science warn against that soil I'M
poverishment which continued raising CT
cotton alone is certain to entail and which
only crop rotation can prevent. Further,
the growers complete dependence upon cot
ton leaves him unfortifed against all manner
of natural and economic dangers; untoward
weather, unfavorable markets, shortage OF
hands in crucial season, Interruptions OF
shipping, the outbreak Of European war
any one of these and divers other circum-
stances may bring misfortune If not disaster
upon the farmer who has staked his all on
cotton, Moreover, the value of that staple
itself, In so far as the producer is concerned,
Is determined in considerable measure by
whether he can hold his crop for fair prices
or is forced to sell to meet pressing debts
and buy food necessaries which he could
have raised at home. Even If none of these
reasons obtained, the menace of the boil
weeviI alone would render the all-cotton sys-
. tenn virtually impossible. Thus Georgia ag-
riculture is reduced to a downright neces-
sity of Investigation. But if there are not
markets for the things raised in place of cot
ton, how can agriculture subsist, much less
prosper?
And if agriculture, the base of all other
material interests, does not prosper, how car
commerce thrive or industry expand? Sc
rious indeed, intellectually serious to every
business in the State and, at last, to every
household is the problem of providing the
markets on which the support and success Of
diversified farming depends. That the sit
uation is better than it was some years age
is not to be denied; potato-curing houses
canning factories, refrigerating and meat
packing plants, velvet bean mills, and a
: least one grain elevator all bear witness tt
the earnest work of pioneers in this vita
field. But it is none the less obvious tina
what has been done, excellent though it BIZ
in quality, is mere 1ota of what needs tt
be done before the vast interests at stake
will be secure.
First of all it is essential to ascertain def
nitely and fully the facts which now w
know but vaguely and in part; for as Secre
tary Adams of the Country Bankers Asso
citation cogently save, "and plan based on
partial conception of the situation will
necessarily be defective" 1t is to thi
fundamental task of gathering and present
ing the facts that The Journal has address
ed itself, ably supported by the Association
whose close touch with farmers and rura
merchants renders it most competent fo
blazing trail in this great region of service
The fist of a series of articles on the sub
ject by Mr.. Ralph Smith, whose prepared
ness and general ability for the work i
hand could not we'll be surpassed, appeare
in Fridays Journal. Others will folloy
from day to day, dealing first and last wit
every aspect Of the manifold problem and
it is hoped, lighting the way to a solution
From all parts of the State and from a.
interests concerned, The Journal cordially in
vites suggestion and cooperation.