Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1926-11-11
TREMENDOUS PROGRESS MADE in GEORGIA
DURING PAST FEW YEARS In EVERY Line
- BY E. S. sENTER, Jr.
Generai Agricultural Agent, Atlanta
and West Point Railroad Co.

and compares the marvellous progress
that Is bc;ag made in Georgia, there
seems reason for optimism. IL is
true that, in the past decade, we
have been confronted with innumer-
able Obstacles. but they have oeeh'
or are beiag, finally overcome.
we nave had our many set-Dacks'
nanaoes. have oen offered Tor our
.,iIments. At the proper time, proper
remedv has been applied, to the END
nat Georgia is steadily forging
baad. eur economic position is
sound, both industrially and agricuI-
s,rally. Georgia, probably was
j, .ver better fortified financially than
sae is today. There appears 10 pe
ample monies to take care OF any
emergencies that might arise Ihis
LAS never better illustrated than al
the recent meeting in Atlanta wnen
group of bankers from over tne
state met with Mr.. Eugene Meyer IN
conference, for the purpose OF re-
j;evine the distress from over-pro-
duction of cotton.
Industrial and agricultural produc-
tion are at high tide, the employment
situation is satisfactory, labor is wen
paid and contented'
Eastern and northen capitai are
awakening to the innumerable oppor-
.unities offered them in Georgia for
sound investment and, to meet TINS
;r aux of capital for industrial de-
yelopment, the power companies are
making great strides in expanding
fsc;lities for electrical energy. Geor-
eia now has a developed horsepower
# over 375, 900 and potential horse
power of, possibly, three-quarter mil
ion. This, linked up with the super
power system of the southeast, al
lords the manufacturers an ample
supply of electrical energy, at reas-
enable rates. The power companies
are to be commended for their inter-
ost in rural electrification.
In looking back over the twelve
yeae period, 1914 to the present
what do we find-a large increase IN
spindles, there being in operation on
July 31st of the present year ITO
cotton mills with an increase in pro-
d. tive spindles of more than per
&C t. In 1910, cotton mills in Geor-
giG were consuming about one-haf
million bales of cotton per annum.
In 1925, the states cotton consump-
ton had reached 997,942 bales. This
indicates that our mills are reaching
the point of cotton consumed almost
eo,sal to the states production.
Ill mills have increased their in
vested capital over ten million dol
laa@l fertilizer plants over six mil
lion dollars; clay products plants over
eight million dollars; marble and
granite quarries over twelve million
d3ll-rs; electric power and light
plants in excess of one hundred mil
lion dollars.
r. 1914 we were expending for
highways approximately four million
d:llars per annum, while there is now
boiag expended over fifteen million
dollars annually on road building.
r emendous progress has been
nasS with diversifcation Of crops,
as Inhibited by recent figures thru
the columns Of "The Week." It
wonld be difficult to estimate the
se.sal increase in dollars and cents
+, :. the effects Of soil building and
tie Increased production through the
plan;ing of leguminous crops. The
Il has taken firm hold in Georgia
th.; economic liberty to the farmers
car My be achieved through inten-
8 cultivation and fertilization,
thereoy insuring increased production
Ter acre. Thousands of acres are be-
il 2. devoted to pasturage, alfalfa and
{ her hay crops; dairying and poul-
try is on q more stable basis than it
his: eyer been. The farmers have
lc sr ID, through sad experience, that
t..ete is no relief from financial
5, rain with a one-crop system; that
the only avenue to financial gain is
t.rolgh balanced farming program,
raising their food requirements, sup
plying local demands and raising
semt cotton as surplus crop.
Educational
Georgia has made notable advance
n.ent along educational lines during
the past twelve years. 1t was only a
few years ago that the total number
of three and four-year accredited
high school graduates in Georgia
amounted to only 906. High schools
in Georgia last yea rturned out 8,646
graduates. Our colleges are all filled
with students. The State of Georgia
is only limited in educational ad-
vaicement by lack of additional IA
cilities in the various colleges. This
applies principally to our state insti-
tutions. The Smith-Lever extension
work among farmers and farm wo-
men, the vocational high-schools in
the various communities of the state
ard the. farm extension work being
carried on by the colleges, has re-
. suited: in a. more. enlightened Geor-