Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-10-27
BY RALPH SMITH.

EN- ROUTE, Oct. 26.-1t 1S near
ly thirty miles from Rainbridge to
Cairo-29.5 miles, to be exact, over
Route No. So Of the state highway
commission. It is a splendid road.
AS you leave Decatur county and
progress through Grady county the
cane fields on either side of the
highway prepare you for the adver-
tisements you read on the win
dows of the enterprising soda water
establishments in Cairo:
CANE JUICE-5c A GLASS;"
Then you realize that you are in
the heart of the cane country, and
pretty soon you learn that you are
in the second largest syrup market
in the country. They are proud of
this fact in Cairo, but they would
be a sight happier if they could
foretell what the future holds in
store for the abundance of wonder
full Georgia cane syrup they have
in the warehouses and on the farms
in that vicinity.
The cane juice that is sold at the
soda founts in Cairo and elsewhere
in the cane country is sweet and
palatable. 1t tastes like the sugar
cane from which it is made, and in
appearance it looks just like it ought
to look, if you can figure what that
means.
Big Money Crop.
The syrup industry on large
scale is relatively a new thing in
Grady and adjoining counties. Its
rapid development in recent years
is indicative of it's potentiality as the
leading farm industry of extreme
south Georgia. OF course sugar
cane is the big money crop of Ora
dy county.
The most resent reliable figures
relating to the farm products of the
county cover the calendar year of
1919, but they serve to illustrate the
Importance of the cane industry in
relation to other farm industries of
Grady county, and are appended be-
low:
The miscellaneous crops cult
waited in the county during the year
1919 included cotton, tobacco, sor-
ghum, and sugar cane. The acreage
in cotton was 1857 and the pro
duction amounted to 3,127 bales
| the acreage in tobacco was 1856, and
Inc dIllOullIeI " O3UJ IfJ
the sorghum acreage was AZ, and the
| sorghum syrup amounted to 2,737
gallons; the acreage planted in
sugar cane was 1881, and the pro
| duction of syrup amounted 1,190,-
| 706 gallons.
Since the foregoing figures were
compiled; that is, since 1919, the
cane industry has grown consider
nh in GYadIy hi1t
curate estimate is possible as to the
| total production of syrup last year,
| Great quantities still remain in the
hands of the farmer, it is said in
Cairo. Nothing is known definitely
as to this years crop, but it is be-
! lieved to have been materially cur.
tailed over last years production by
the drought and the ravages Of a
plant disease peculiar to sugar cane
| and known as the Mosaic disease.
The uncertainty as to the size OF
this years crop aggravates the mis-
givings of the people as to the mar
ket for their product: They have
been made to realize reluctantly that
one dollar syrup is out of the ques
ton. yet much syrup heretofore has
| sold in the Cairo market for 81 per
gallon, and in commercial quanti
ties.
Lack Loading Facilities.
| The day 1 visited Cairo they were
talking about 30 and 40 cent syrup
and the leading men of the town
were lamenting that such prices
would mean a big loss to the farm
ers.
The syrup problem is and is not 8
| marketing problem. The opportun
ity for improving the situation by
! means of better facilities for hand
ling the product is recognized gen
| orally. For instance, there are nc
facilities at Cairo or elsewhere in
the cane country for shipping syrur
in bulk; that is to say. in tank cars
Such cars are manufactured anC
| handled by the railroads, but Cairo
is without means of loading SYRUP
tanks.
Relatively little of the syrup made
in the Cairo district is in a mer
! charitable shape when it is shipped
Syrup will not keep in barrels. II
can be preserved only In alright
tins AS rule, the unrefined syrup
is shipped IN barrels to refineries
and there prepared for the market.
Some of the producers can their
own syrup. Others do not. Mos
of them ship in barreis, and the cost
of these barrels is a big item in the
overhead the producer must bear
before he can begin to count profit
Whether it would be profitable fOl
the syrup producers, or the bankers
and merchants of Cairo to establish
| a big refinery to handle the entire
! output at Cairo is a question. The