Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-07-24
THE COUNTRY HOME
BY MRS. w. H. FELTON,

THE DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS
WHEN the act authorizing the erection
Nv of twelve district agricultural schools
became a law in Georgia it was my
good fortune to hear what Hon. John W.
Akin, of Barlow county, and president of the
Georgia senate before his death, said about
them He was my townsman and there
might have been an impression with him
that the story was intended to be somewhat
confidential. But the experience of a good
many years has shown me that he was cor
rect in his opinion. He said old Georgia
had hung milestone on her neck for one
time, at least. He opposed their creation
he foretold the expense they would entail on
the taxpayers He reminded me that the
Seventh Congressional district was comprised
OF thirteen counties, and the Seventh Dis
trict Agricultural school was located in the
extreme southwest corner of Cobb county, a
few miles from the Chattahoochee ricer, and
much nearer to Atlanta, in the Fifth district,
than to any other county in the Seventh dis
trict, except Cobb He said it is obliged to
become a local school and the remainder of
the thirteen counties do not feel obliged to
send to the school near Powder Springs, be-
cause they can send to school nearer home,
and as it is to be an agricultural school to
teach farmer boys that are poor, they SIM
ply cannot go so far and spend so much
money, etc, etc.
Since that time I have kept watch on
what was doing in these schools which were
to teach country boys and girls how to farm
and live in the farmhouses. The Seventh
District school will educate the children of
those who are not farmers, and this school
had more pupils in attendance than any one
of the twelve, in their reports, which reports
they gave Superintendent Park and were
presented to the governor in this good year
1928.
I picked out the Seventh district because
it had the largest number and graduated
forty-one in 1923. The Twelfth district had
seventy-five in attendance, but no graduates
reported. The Eighth district graduated
eight, and this Madison district drew $15,-
900 for it's support Ono more was allowed to-
the Seventh district, which enrolled 278 pu-
pills while the Madison school enrolled 1000,
and each drew the same money.
This agricultural school, established to
teach farming, is surrounded with colleges,
in Athens, Milledgeville, Atlanta, etc, and
those who desired even farm education pre-
ferred to send elsewhere. The Madison
school had 100 pupils enrolled, and grant
ing no child but farmers children attended,
it soaked up $4,000 of Georgia taxpayers
money and $1,000 of federal taxpayers mon
ey-and they graduated eight! Nearly sew
enteen thousand dollars of tax money was
used to pay teachers to teach 100 children
how to pillow and to SOW and to reap and to
NOW, for nine months in the year, and only
eight were sufficiently advanced to be given
the certificate
Divided SIT 900 by 100 and there is $17O
to teach each pupil Divide SIT 900 by eight
and it required over $4,000 to the pupil.
Every one of these farm schools colleges
they are named) had federal aid, and while
my inquiry has not been extensive, 1 have
no information that Barlow sent a single
scholar to Powder Springs during the year
1928.
The Berry school at Rome has 500 pupils,
and the boys learn everything farmer
should know, and the girls learn everything