Evening star., 1943-05-30
Students Grow and Can Crops
In Georgia College Experiment
$4,000 Food Processing Plant Transformed
TO Supply Own and Other Schools Needs

they will inherit. And Georgia, as
a state, is in an amazing transition.
It's shifting from cotton and to-
bacco as quickly as the research
scientists can prove up other money
crops. Georgia's rural people are
learning both to produce the new
crops and to process them. The
State bids we'll to be an important
food larder for the whole Atlantic
Seaboard.
So these youngsters are working
exactly as though they were en-
ployed by some food processing
corporation. Except for classroom
work, of course. In class they study
crop production from pine trees to
Bermuda onions to Holsteins That
includes enough field work so each
student actually can do what he
reads about.
Until this year, the rest OF the
necessary labor was done by colored
field crews. But they have "evap-
Grated" now; so the students have
taken their places-at 20 cents an
hour-and they love it. The student
who will work every day can make
his entire expenses.
Youngsters on the milking crews
have to be up at $50 am. Those
who stoke the hot water boilers are
up at $50 am. They all combine
to keep the dormitories and class
room buildings clean. They've even
built new campus buildings, just to
learn the repair work they may
have to direct on their own farms
and plantations.
The college was in happy posi-
ton to make this strange transition.
A year ago it built $4,000 food
processing plant for research and
teaching 1t includes a modern
freezing plant and a modern mech
anized canning plant. The freezing
plant is so large it is now opening
one unit, which will hold 10000 cans,
to the public.
Build Dehydrating Plant.
The youngsters are building their
own dehydrating plant, thereby
learning carpentry, plumbing and
electricity under H. L. Simpson, the
professor in food processing
Dr. King found that the whole
county wanted to use the colleges
canning room. So, why not? Groups
of women can bring their fruits and
vegetables which they must pre-
pare themselves. But the students
do the canning, at 20 cents an hour,
for which the women pay.
Mr.. King, thus summer will fol-
low the wholesale market prices
when he sells his students produce
to other colleges This is with ap-
proval OF the State Board of Re-
gents.
The college adjoins large State
experimental farm, also run by DR..
King. What the students can't
raise they buy from the farm And
they pay for it. Even so theirs meals
average only 1912 cents a person.
Three weeks ago the last "outside
help left. The professional colored
cooks in the kitchen took war jobs.
DR.. King turned to Ina Gaines, pro-
fessor in home economics. She said,
We'll put it up to the students"
Now students man the kitchen
and the dining hall. Miss Gaines
supervises. It's odd, but the COL
lege's best piano player, Harold
Thompson, turned out to be the king
of the biscuit makers. To be per-
fectly honest there are more boys
on the kitchen crews than girls and
they do better job. The girls are
quickest to volunteer for the tough
field work. They've just saved big
pea crop at the. expense of SUM-
burns and backaches.
Dance Saturday Nights.
It's not all drudgery. The school
took the States Junior champion
ship in basket ball. They dance
every Saturday night. But the drive
to grow and save food seems to be
an infectious fever, Mr.. King says.
New students slip away at every op-
portunity to see movies in nearby
Tifton. But shortly. says Mr.. King.
these visits get farther and farther
apart.
The youngsters produce some
amazing results. There's red
headed girl, Eula Wood from Will