Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-12-27
Sell It on the Hoof"

"SeU It on the Hoof
-HE anniversary number of Georgia." a
monthly magazine published by the
Georgia Association, and devoted to the
development Of the State, well suggests that
our bumper corn crop should be marketed on
'sfour feet''-through hogs and beef cattle.
with a 81, 200, 000-bushel corn crop and
tons upon tons of velvet beans, not to mention
the thousands Of tons of potentially valu-
able hay crop rotting in the fields" remarks
the publication, Georgia bankers and farm
ers and officials are decryi1 g the lack of mar
keting facilities, such as corn shelters and
grain elevate s to put the crop in marketable
form. OF course these lacking facilities
would help. But they can not be supplied
even if capital were available in time to do
much to save the present crop from tbs
weevil and other sources of waste.
sit is not too late, however, for bankers
and farmers, if they will work together right
now, to market this crop profitably In the
only way it ought to be marketed at any time
Feeder cattle of good grade and hogs ought
to be bought N sufficient numbers to consume
the surplus crop on the farm. Then market
the crop on -four feet
Georgia has the market noW-big eff
ficient packing plants she is not using to half
Beorgia A few months cattle and hog
they are anxious to buy at prices, that will
net the farmers more for his corn and velvet
beans and nay = than he could possibly
secure for these commodities if there were
grain elevator at every railroad station In
Georgia. A few months cattle and hog
loans from the banks will market Georgia S
surplus corn and velvet beans crops at a good
profit to Georgia farmers and leave a fertilizer
of inestimable value. When, oh! when, will
Georgia learn the lesson?"
The suggestion of Georgia" invites at
tention to news dispatch appealing in The
journal, under date of December 1S, from
Moultrie, reciting the experience of Mr.. j.
w. coleman, successful farmer of Colquitl
county, in selling his corn ION the hooI." 1t
seems that many progressive farmers of Col
quit turned their hogs in their corn fields
rather than gather the crop and sell it far
Fellow the cost of production.
Mr.. Coleman, however, kept an accurate
account of the results obtained by this de-
s,parture.
patch, 'that by marketing his corn via the
hog route, he received more than one dol
liar bushel for it, against 40 cents, the pre-
vailing price of corn on the Moultre market"
10 Mr.. Coleman turned bunch of hogs into
al corn field that contained about 700 bushels
of grain. The hogs at the time weighed 49,
600 pounds After a little while, he sold
for $137.50 hogs weighing 1900 pounds, and
afound subsequently that the hogs still remain
! ing in his possession, and in the corn field,
: weighed 20 900 pounds, representing a net
gain in weight of 5000 pounds.
L. "At IL cents pound-the price of hard
= hoge at Moultrie-the 5000 net gain in
sweight of the porkers represented to Mr..
an actual gain of $312.50 in the
market value of his hogs" says the Moultrie
.edispatch. And, it now appears, that not
more than half of the 700 burhels in the
field has been eaten. In a word, Mr. Cole
imam has sold $50 bushels of corn for $780,
- The successful experience of Mr.. Coleman
s1emphasizes the point made in the magazine.
The bumper corn and velvet bean crop in
Georgia can be marketed profitably if the
farmers will feed it to cattle and stock. 1t
is worth far more ION 70 ar feet" than it is
either in the field, the crib the elevator or the
sack.
AS has been disclosed by the market move
ment inaugurated by the Country Bankers
Association of Georgia, in cooperation with
Ih. Atlanta Journal the erection and opera
tion of grain elevator throughout Georgia is
OF dou btful wisdom. 1t is far better that the
surplus corn and other feedstuffs should be
used by the farmers in providing for their
cattle and stock.
Although the bumper crop has demon
strated beyond peradventure that corn can
be produced in commercial quantities in Geor-
gia, there is question as to whether it can
be produced profitably in competition with
the great grain-producing states of the west
1t is this fact, aggravated by the circum.
stances of starvation prices, that casts doubt
on the ACCESSIBILITY of grain elevators through
out the state. In times such as the country
is now experiencing. the desire for ready
money not -nfrequently induces farmer tC
sell at a sacrifice commodity that must sub
sequently be repurchased at considerably
higher price.
Where the farmer has been unable to fine
a ready market for his corn he has beer
forced to carry it through the winter, and il
consequence will be in better Jhape mex
spring, when otherwise it would be necessar!
to purchase feed for his cattle and stock.
The suggestion that feeder cattls and hogs of
fer a splendid outlet for thesurplus corn ant
velvet bean crop of the state can not fail tt
commend itself to every thinking person, ant
in this connection we feel it not amiss to re
mark also upon the obvious advantages o
dairy cattle as markets for surplus feedstuffs
indeed it seems to us that dairy cattle offe
as good or better outlet than feeder cattle
The first step with either feeder or dair.
cattle is the same; that IS to say befor
either industry can be developed the farm
{. the state must be supplied with cattle o
one sort or another, and just now the farm
ers have no funds with which to make tn
first investment. Loans from the tanks will