The Leader, enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1915-1921, 1921-01-28

FITZGERALD WILL
SHIP WATERMELONS
Farmers Thursday Pledge To
Grow 154 Acres This Year
FARM BUREAU TO LABEL
Foreign Buyers Will Make Head
quarters Here Is Plan


Plans for making Fitzgerald wat
ermelon shipf ing ce:ter for central
South Georgia were threshed out at
the meeting yesterday of the Ben Hill
County Farm Bureau Federation adj
visory board at the Chamber of Com
merce.
G. B. Eunice, of the A. B. & A.
Railway Extension department, re-
ported that twenty farmers at Fitz-
gerald and Ambrose had pledged
themselves to plant at least 154 acres
of watermelons this year and Sccre-
tary Owens Of the advisory board
stated that he believed at least 400
acres in all would be planted in the
Fitzgerald district.
Get Competitive Buying Market
With such an acreage planted near
Fitzgerald, it will be possible to get
several buyers to come here during
the watermelon season ard take the
crop from the farmers at good prices.
Fitzgerald, it was brought GU. at
the meeting, is logically situated for
the headquarters of at.rmeion buy-
ers to, work the entire Central South
Georgia section, as far South as Tif-
ton, as far east as Nichols. as far north
as Abbeville and as far west as Cor
dele.
The Farm Bureau plans to render
active assistance to watermelon grow
ers in the county. Arrangements will
be made with the farmers to label
and guarantee the melons, in order to
get top prices fer the fancy melons
Ali the farmers in the Fitzgerald dis
trict will be asked to plant during the
same week ami OF rhe sane variety
in order to make it worth while for
several northern produce concerns to
send buyers here DUNG the maturing
season and make competitive bids for
the crop.
Increase Acreage Next Year
If the first years experiment is sat
isfactory and the farm bureau sue
ceeds in getting the farmers to give
complete satisfaction to the buyers
and thus establish confidence in
Northern markets, the acreage will
be largely increased next year and
handled entirely through the farm bu-
reau. This will enable the farmers
to get higher price because the high
salaries and expenses of the buyers
and representatives of the produce
houses which must all come out of
the price of the melons, will be saved.
Among those who talked at the
meeting yesterday were Secretary
Owens, of the farm bureau, G. B.
Eunice, w. R. Tucker, F. H. Also
brook of the A. B. & A. Agricultural
extension department. The railroads
experts will assist the farmers in
growing the crops.
The farmers who have pledged
themselves to grow a specific acreage
of melons this year are John Baisden,
H. L. Vickers, M. R. lowers, ]. S.
Dickerson, T. H. Brown, J. M. Fer
guson, D. B. Buchanan, Geo. Paulk,
M. M. Seymor, H. H. Merritt. J. M.
Richardson, J. D. Harper, R. J.
Kirkland. w. B. lowers, I. L. Sey-
NOR, T. J. Holland, George Harper,
all of Ambrose, L. Robitszch, F. R.
Hager, of Fitzgerald.
Practically every farmer who has
been interviewed has expressed will
ingness to plant some melons in CO.
operation with the farm bureau and
the other farmers who have entered
the melon growing movement. While
the risk is heavier than in other
crops, the profit for a good crop is
bigger and it is considered an attrac-
tive venture.
The most important thing for this
years crop, according to the railroad
men who are looking toward business
in future years, is to develop a steady
market for the future by giving sat
isfaction and square deal to the
buyers and developing confidence in
the products of this section this year.
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