An Invitation
By HON. HUGH M. DORSET
Governor of Georgia
Now that our country is at peace, after the most
destructive war of all time, the old Empire State of
the South extends to the home-seeker a cordial invi-
tation to cast his lot within her borders.
Georgia is rich in all the varied products of the tem-
perate zone — in fields of marvelous fertility, in un-
rivalled water-powers, in orchards and vineyards, in
woods and minerals — in all that a genial climate and
a fertile soil can unite to produce. These are all ready
to respond to the touch of industry, to the call of
labor.
Georgia is the home of the peach and the land of
the watermelon. It is also the fleecy empire of King
Cotton.
Besides these material, assets, Georgia offers what
is far better: non-sectarian schools, orthodox churches,
political and civil liberty, wide-awake towns and cities,
happy homes, good health, pure water, a patriotic pop-
ulation, and a welcome in which there is not a lingering
taint of sectional bitterness.
The bugles have sung truce ; let the looms and the
spindles sing prosperity.
k • ff.U'
United States Railroad Administration
Director General of Railroads
Foreword
The United States Railroad Administration is issuing this booklet to
furnish accurate and authentic data as to the opportunities offered in
general farming, live stock raising, orcharding and trucking in Georgia.
It is manifestly impossible in the limited space of a booklet of this
character to do adequate justice to so large a State and one so bountifully-
endowed by nature.
The matter has been prepared by representatives of all the roads
under Federal control serving Georgia. You will note that no particular
section or county is described in detail, but that the State is treated as a
whole, with only such sectional references as the geographical and climatic
conditions make necessary.
There are no extravagant phrases in praise of Georgia and its re-
sources and the opportunities offered to the newcomer. The purpose
of the book is simply to convey reliable information regarding the State,
and the plain statements herein regarding its crops, supplemented by
photographs, all of which have been taken within the State, speak for
themselves.
The officers of the United States Railroad Administration and officials
of the several railroads serving Georgia simply wish to add to what is
contained in this booklet that the man seeking a new home can well
afford to visit Georgia before deciding upon his location.
Issued b]p
UNITED STATES RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION
Agricultural Section
J. L. EDW^ARDS. Manager
Washington, D.C.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ADDRESS
W. W. CROXTON
HOUM 5 ATUNTA TERMINAL STATION
ATLANTA, QA.
An Appreciation of the South
By Hon. Franklin K. Lane
Secretary of the Interior
^JYY Y recent trips into the South have convinced
^^^ me that there are wonderful possibihties for
agricultural development in that section. In many of
the Southern States there are large areas of the rich-
est kinds of land suitable for diversified farming, stock
raising, and fruit growing, which have never been put
into cultivation. The rainfall is abundant and the
crop-growing season a long one. I am satisfied
that most satisfactory location from a standpoint of
climate, productivity, sanitation and health, and other
requirements are available in those States for com-
munity settlements for returning soldiers and sailors,
as well as for others intending to engage in agricul-
ture.
Washington, D. C, February 28, 1919.
Cheapest Agricultural Lands
"I am convinced that a very large majority of the
returning soldiers for whom it is planned to make pro-
vision, could be taken care of in the coastal plain of
the South.
I am convinced that here are the cheapest lands adap-
table to agriculture in the entire country, all things
considered. * * * * in the past two decades enor-
mous areas of pine forests have been denuded of their
merchantable timber, and these lands are now available
for clearing and are now ready for agricultural uses."
— Hon. H. T. Cory, Consulting Engineer, United States
Department of Interior, in charge Federal Investiga-
tions in the South.
Savannah, Ga., November 11, 1918.
EORGIA may be said to be divided into three general sub-divisions — the
Mountains, the Piedmont and the Coastal plains.
The Mountains, or North Georgia, is that part of the State roughly speak-
ing, north of Atlanta. Here the development of the fruit growing resources
in addition to general farming is progressing at a rapid rate. There are a great many
large commercial orchards located in these hills and mountains, which by reason
of their elevation and broken character offer reasonable immunity from late and
early frosts and freezes and furnish both air and water drainage.
These mountain lands are especially adapted to the raising of live stock, par-
ticularly sheep, as they are covered with a dense growth of grass clear to the top,
and the soil, having been enriched for countless years by falling leaves, with prop-
er attention and tillage produces extraordinarily well.
The Piedmont Section, or Middle Georgia, which extends in a general way in
a line east and west of Atlanta, to a line drawn northeasterly from Columbus
through Macon to Augusta is the most intensively settled and developed portion of
the State. It is a gently rolling country covered with splendid farms, upon which
great quantities of cotton, corn, oats, rye, wheat, peanuts, peas, fruit, vegetables,
and live stock are produced.
The Coastal Plain, or South Georgia, is the territory south of the Piedmont
Section, and in this area is included the cut-over lands of the State.
It is perhaps in this section of the State that the greatest progress has taken
place during the past few years. A large part of this section was originally cov-
ered with dense forests of yellow pine timber, and as this is converted into lumber
and the lands made available for settlement, they are quickly being put into culti-
vation by an aggressive lot of farmers, who readily listen to the teachings of mod-
ern agricultural methods and are quick to profit by them.
A large number of farmers from other sections have come into this cut-over
land district, and are rapidly replacing the pine forests with improved live stock
and general farms.
Population.
Georgia's population is increasing in a healthy and constant manner without
any boom or artificial stimulants. In 1910 it numbered 2,609,121, which on Jan-
uary 1, 1919, had increased to 2,955,505.
Page Four
GEORGIA
"#Atf^-
Peaviiie lla> is Kith in Protein.
Notwithstanding this healthy growth there is still room for many more people
in Georgia, as it is the largest State east of the Mississippi River having an area
of 59,475 square miles, or 37,584,000 acres.
Georgia's Capital.
Atlanta is the Capital of Georgia, its leading city and the geographical hub
from which radiates many lines of activity throughout the South. By reason of
its strategic location, numerous manufacturers and jobbers maintain general of-
fices in Atlanta, and during the recent war the Quartermaster General of the U. S.
Army established here a Quartermaster's Depot, which purchased and concentrated
here supplies for the various camps located in the Southeast.
Savannah and Brunswick are the State's leading ports.
Climate.
The Georgia people modestly admit that they have the best climate in the
world, and the Northern man after a short residence here comes to agree with
them implicitly. Because of the length of the State from north to south, one can
find practically any climatic condition that he desires from temperate to semi-
tropical. ^ -
Climate in some sections is extravagantly praised merely because it makes living
pleasant. In Georgia the climate not only contributes to the joy of living, but it also
materially adds to the bank account.
When one contrasts the cost of a winter supply of coal in the North for cooking
and heating against the mild winters in Georgia, that require only occasional small
"^ Wt\ fcMi»L^
Digging Potatoes Cultivates the Young Sugar Cane. Two Profitable Crops from Same Acre.
GEORGIA
Page Five
Shorthorn Cattle Popular with Georgia Farmers,
fires and the inexhaustible quantity of wood for both heating and cooking that can
be had for the gathering, it will be seen that climate in Georgia actually spells profit.
To the Northern farmer, who is afraid to go to town frequently because of
the knowledge that the frozen ruts would cut the fetlocks of his horses and proba-
bly suffer the freezing of his water works while he was gone, this working-all-the-
year-in-your-shirt-sleeve-climate will particularly appeal.
Figures on climate rarely mean anything, but a statement that the growing
season in North Georgia is 210 days, in Middle Georgia 230 days and in South Geor-
gia 260 days, gives the farmer an adequate idea of what the climate is, for he
knows that the crops will not grow unless there is warmth.
A visit to Georgia is the only way to appreciate her climate. It would be
found that in the summer months both Northern and Southern people congregate
in North Georgia, because of the delightful weather at the resorts there, and in
the winter months that South Georgia is the Mecca for the society people of New
York and the North, while upon one of the islands off" the coast of Southeast Geor-
gia, a group composed of some of the wealthiest men in the United States have
constructed a club house and many elaborate homes, and here during the Winter
months can be found practically all of the men of international fame in the financial
world.
In North Georgia the mean annual temperature is 52 degrees. Spring 58, Sum-
mer 76, Fall 59, Winter 42.
In Middle Georgia annual 63 degrees. Summer 78, Fall 64, Winter 47.
In South Georgia annual 68 degrees. Summer 81, Fall 70, Winter 55.
The average rainfall for the State is 51 inches annually, which is evenly dis-
tributed throughout the year, the greatest precipitation averaging 16 inches in
the three Summer months, and the least being 9 inches in the Autumn months.
Sweet Potatoes After 200 Bushels of Irish Potatoes Had Been Dug. Corn in Background.
Page Six
GEORGIA
Ideal Conditions Here for Poultry, with Good Local Markets.
Eleven Military Camps in Georgia.
No stronger endorsement of Georgia's climate and sanitary conditions could
possibly be found than the action of the War Department in selecting so
many locations within the boundary of the State in which to train the new Na-
tional Army, and the thousands of boys from the North, and hundreds of thous-
ands of their relatives who visited them, both Winter and Summer, while they were
located in Georgia camps, know at first-hand what delightful weather the State
enjoys.
The War Department established Camps Gordon and Jesup at Atlanta where
Ft. McPherson has long been located ; Camp Greenleaf was located at Chicka-
mauga where Ft. Oglethorpe has been so many years; Camp Wheeler at Macon,
Camp Hancock at Augusta, and Camp Benning at Columbus. Souther Field for
the training of aviators was located at Americus, and Ft. Screven for many years
has been a part of the Coast fortification at Savannah. A Naval Air Training
Camp for aviators was also established at Brunswick.
Live Stock
Georgia, by winning the Third Prize at the International Live Stock Expo-
sition at Chicago in 1918, and also third prize at the American Royal Live Stock
Show at Kansas City with "Bonnie J", a pure-bred two-year-old Hereford bull,
demonstrated that it had gone into the raising of pure-bred live stock on an
extensive scale. There are many herds of pure-bred cattle scattered throughout
the State, and a very large number of farmers now make it a practice to market
each year one or more cars of cattle that they have finished on corn and velvet
beans.
Pigs in Essex Rape Pasture.
GEORGIA
Page Seven
Ready for the Show Ring.
Every farmer has in his mind certain conditions that would make an ideal
stock country, and if asked to describe it he would say it would be one where abun-
dant grass and forage crops could be cheaply produced ; where the water would be
pure and the climate mild ; not hot enough to worry the stock, nor cold enough to
make them use up all of their feed keeping warm.
Practically all of the conditions mentioned are met in the State of Georgia.
The soil is just such as might be prepared for the production of lespedeza, Ber-
muda, the clovers, cow peas, soy beans and velvet beans. The water is either run-
ning streams or artesian wells.
The old days of the open range are rapidly passing away. The big profits from
live stock in Georgia are made under fence, with proper food and attention. No
other enterprise offers the same certain profit under intelligent management as
the production of beef, pork and mutton. No section of the United States off'ers
superior natural advantages for this industry. Under intelligent crop rotation,
the production of grasses and legumes for pastures, Georgia can produce beef at as
low cost per pound as any place in the United States. Short winters in the south-
ern portion of the State permit green fields all the year. Green fields all the year
mean a good herd. The cheap lands, combined with cheap cows for foundation
stock, make it possible to start in the cattle business with an outlay of far less
capital than is required in most other sections of the country.
The live stock farmer who will come to Georgia, and who will grow a maxi-
mum acreage of feed stuffs, and who will keep just enough stock to consume that
feed, and who returns to the soil the manure, will be prosperous.
Particular stress should be laid upon the advantages of Georgia as a live stock
feeding and finishing country, because of the State's velvet bean crop. Velvet beans
may remain in the fields throughout the Winter without deterioration, and be con-
sumed as the stock need it.
!im^l*%.
Peanuts on Cut-over Lands.
Page Eight
GEORGIA
A I'rize Pair of I'ure-bred Shorthorns.
Whether one wishes to range Heref ords over a wide area, finish a few Short-
horns, Polls or Angus steers on a quarter section, or raise some of the milking
types of beef cattle on a small place, all sections offer an inviting field.
Dairying.
It has taken the Northern farmer a long time to realize that the right kind of
climate is a distinct asset to the dairy farm.
It is our climate that permits the high yield and continued-through-the-year
production of cow feeds. Cotton-seed meal, velvet bean and peanut meal, which
Georgia produces in such great abundance, have become recognized, wherever the
cattle industry has been extensively developed, as standard protein concentrates.
If cows are carried on a relatively light concentrate feed and a maximum allow-
ance of roughage, velvet beans may constitute the sole concentrate ration. For
cows on a full grain ration and for those giving a high flow of milk, beans should
not constitute more than one-half of the concentrate ration.
The Georgia State College of Agriculture has conducted several interesting
feeding demonstrations, and the results, while they have determined the wide va-
riation in digestible crude protein in the three concentrates produced in Georgia,
varying from 31.6% in cottonseed meal down to 14.9% in the case of velvet beans,
have shown clearly the superiority of this State in the economical production of
dairy products.
A complete statement of the experiment in dairy feeding would be too exten-
sive to show here, but the bulletin recording it can be secured by writing the Geor-
gia State College of Agriculture at Athens.
Georgia Produced 68,350,000 Bushels of Corn in 1918.
GEORGIA
Page Nine
Georgia Cantaloupes are Unexcelled.
With a climate that permits dairy cattle to graze out-doors practically the en-
tire year, which is almost an insurance against their contracting bovine tubercu-
losis, and with such a wealth of pasture and forage crops that can be quickly and
economically produced, the dairy business in Georgia offers extraordinary promise,
especially when statistics show that millions of dollars worth of dairy products are
annually imported into the State.
Hogs.
A permanent agriculture based upon the raising of live stock is now the keynote
of the progressive farmer in Georgia, and it is the general recognition of this basic
principle that has so largely contributed to the State's advance in the past few
years.
Its strides particularly in the raising of hogs are little short of marvelous,
when we consider that in the mind of the average Northern man the South raises
nothing except cotton.
Five years ago hog raising as an established industry could hardly be said to ex-
ist in Georgia. Today as the result of efforts on the part of the United States and
Georgia State Departments of Agriculture, the State College of Agriculture, Agri-
cultural Agents of the Railroads and other development agencies, it is an industry
that gives promise to furnishing in the very near future, all of the pork that the
citizens of the State will require. The reason for the rapid development of the
hog industry in this section, was the recognition by the farmer that his lands were
better adapted to the raising of a greater quantity of feed suitable for feeding
and finishing hogs on a less acreage with consequent greater profit, than it was
possible to obtain upon higher priced lands in the so called corn belt of the North.
Hampshires Devtlop (Quickly Inder (ieitrj-ia ( oiulitions.
Page Ten
GEORGIA
$?*»!^6^
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Holstein Dairy Herd on Georgia's Coast.
Another factor that has contributed to this development was the construction
of several big meat packing establishments operated under Government inspection,
which provide a quick cash market.
The hog industry has become so general that even the boys of the State are tak-
ing a keen interest in it, and there are few districts where the Boys' Pig Clubs are
not enthusiastically competing in the raising of prize winners for the County and
State Fairs.
The vaudeville joke about the Southern razor-back has been retired because
such animals no longer exist. The State has enthusiastically bred pure-bred boars
to the native sows until the long-nosed type, that formerly roamed the woods in a
half wild state, has practically disappeared. These conditions were advertised to
the world when the Hampshire Boar — Cotter's Choice 40333 — from Middle Georgia
won First Prize in Aged Boar, Senior Champion and Grand Champion Boar classes
at the International Live Stock Exposition in Chicago in 1918. This hog was far-
rowed and raised on a Georgia farm.
Many farmers have embarked in the raising of pure-bred hogs exclusively, and
find a splendid and constantly growing market for all of the pigs farrowed. In
fact, the only phase of hog raising in Georgia that would not seem to be profitable
would be the shipping into the State of stocker hogs to be finished, becau'^e hogs can
be raised here for such little money, and so rapidly attain their maximum growth,
that it is hardly worth while to go to the trouble of visiting stock yards to secure
feeders and stockers.
No man with any experience in raising hogs and a knowledge of the funda-
mental situation in Georgia, has ever had the temerity to question the statement
that Georgia possesses advantages for this industry denied other portions of the
Bright Tobacco in the Piney Woods.
GEORGIA
Page Eleven
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Value of Georgia's Wheat Crop in 1918 Was $9,658,000.00.
American Continent with a less favorable climate. Even the man with the most
elementary education, and knowledge of simple economics, knows that the longer
the growing season, the greater the production, and the greater the production,
the greater the wealth.
There are advantages in the production of hogs in Georgia that make this
industry more certain and less costly than in other sections of the country. The
long seasons mean the production of more and a greater variety of legumes and
grasses, chief among them velvet beans and peanuts, for use in economical live stock
raising.
The Southern people have always been large meat-eaters, but small meat pro-
ducers. In fact, the South consumes more meat per-capita than any other section
of the country, and a large portion of it has been heretofore imported from the
West. Again, there is another advantage — the home market.
Hog raising is one of the brightest prospects which the farmers of Georgia can
possibly have. Hogs admit of the quickest realization of profit to be found in any
branch of the animal industry.
The United States Department of Agriculture has stated frequently that pork
can be made more cheaply in the South than in any other section of the country.
Hog raising is adapted to the farmer with small capital, as but a small amount of
money is required with which to begin the business, and the returns begin to come in
within a few months after it is started. The sow is a rapid and prolific producer.
Money is turned quickly. Inasmuch as green crops suitable for hog feeding can be
maintained the year round, it is possible for the farmers of Georgia to make more
money than the Northern farmer by his hog-raising operations, and the profits made
are always in proportion to the amount of green crops used.
A Sample of Georgia's Famous Shell Roads Along the Coast.
Page Twelve
GEORGIA
North Georgia Apple Orchard.
The mildness of the seasons here is such that the sows may be permitted to
farrow both in February and August and the pigs made ready for market in Oc-
tober and May, thus keeping away from the glut caused by the farmers in the
Northern corn belt rushing their stuff on the market in the early Spring and late
Fall.
With abundant water and the grazing and the forage crops hereinbefore men-
tioned, together with peanuts, chufas, sweet potatoes and rape, there is no reason
why some crops cannot be raised that will keep ten hogs to the acre the year round.
Peanuts.
The light loamy soils of Georgia are especially well suited for the growing of
peanuts, and this crop has been an increasingly important one in the recent past.
They are used for fattening hogs and also are sold to the oil mills.
In 1917 Georgia threshed 9,435,000 bushels of peanuts, which sold for $1.60
per bushel, bringing the State the vast sum of $15,096,000. In 1918, the acreage
increased from 255,000 acres the preceding year to 362,000 acres, but the produc-
tion per acre dropped from 37 bushels in 1917 to 28 bushels in 1918, which brought
$16,218,000.
Peanuts are so easily grown, are so much relished by hogs, and produce such
rapid and cheap gains of pork that for fattening purposes they have deservedly
been the main dependence of nearly all of Georgia hog producers.
Two varieties are grown in this area for hog grazing, the North Carolina,
sometimes known as the "Georgia" peanut, and the Spanish. Spanish peanuts are
Pecans Inter planted with Peanuts.
GEORGIA
Page Thirteen
Registered Hereford Cattle on Lespedeza and Bermuda Pasture.
a much quicker growing variety than the North Carolina. For this reason they fit
well into a hog-grazing system, either to supply early feed before the main fat-
tening crops are matured, or for planting late in the season following such crops
as oats, rye, potatoes or watermelons.
They are in heavy demand by the oil mills, which extract a very high grade oil
from the nut and sell the shells for polishing tin plate. Confectioners also use vast
quantities of them, and those that escape the digger are eagerly rooted out by the
hogs.
Grazing Crops.
In Georgia the soy bean and cowpea are extensively used as early hay and graz-
ing crops.
At a Southern Experiment Station it has been learned from tests that an
acre of soy bean pasture will afford grazing for ten pigs for 43 days when a one-
fourth ration of corn is given (about one ear a day) ; 48 days when a half-ration
(about two ears a day) of corn is fed, and 62 days when three-fourth ration (about
three ears a day) is given.
The acre returned a value in pork of $39.13 after the value of the corn eaten
was deducted.
Rape is a plant that is best adapted for growth on the deep, mellow, loamy
soils, that are found in the coastal plain section of the State.
It has been demonstrated by the State Agricultural College, by repeated ex-
periments, that an acre of rape properly seeded on good land will produce as
much pork as the same acre of land cultivated in corn, and it can be grown during
the off season period and much cheaper.
Corn and Peanuts — Two Crop System as Practiced in Georgia.
Page Fourteen
GEORGIA
Bright Tobacco on Cut-over Lands Produces Big Profits.
Chufas are a profitable crop on loamy soils where Winter grazing is wanted for
hogs and poultry. They grow best on soils which are very light and sandy, and
yield well with a moderate amount of cultivation.
They involve no expense of gathering and storing, except for the small amount
of seed which may be wanted for the following season,
Bermuda and lespedeza for Summer grazing and burr clover for the Winter
months give almost continuous pasture the year round.
For a permanent pasture there is no combination that is superior to burr
clover, lespedeza and Bermuda grass. Bulletin No. 509 of the United States Depart-
ment of Agriculture says: "Bermuda grass is the foundation of all the best per-
manent pastures in the South, and in many localities is important for hay. This
grass will seldom more than cover the ground in the first season, but when good
rich sod is formed, it will last a long time. The feeding value of the hay is about
equal to timothy."
Bermuda furnishes excellent pasturage practically the entire year in all parts
of the State, and puts just as much gain on beef cattle; produces just as much milk
from the dairy cow, and pastures hogs better than the Northern blue grass. It
nourishes old fields, and can be made to cover with a carpet of green all the waste
places of the farm.
Beggarweed is another legume hay and pasture crop that is spreading volun-
tarily throughout the State.
Lespedeza grown for hay is a most profitable crop. Under favorable con-
ditions the plant grows to a height of from twelve to eighteen inches. When
thickly grown the plants grow upright and the yield often exceeds two tons to
the acre. It grows in all parts of Georgia. It is a member of the clover family,
A Georgia Watermelon Field.
GEORGIA
Page Fifteen
These Velvet Beans Were First Crop Ever Grown on Cut-over Land.
and has all the soil enriching quahties attributed to legumes. It is an annual but
it readily re-seeds, and appears stronger the second year without replanting.
It is usually sown with oats, and after the oats are cut off, the lespedeza
takes on a quick growth and makes a bumper crop of hay. Its feeding value is
very high. Usually it is used for pasturage and makes excellent grazing.
Georgia's Advantage for Sheep.
There is an old proverb that says, "The hoof of the sheep is golden", and Geor-
gia farmers are beginning to realize the truth of that old proverb. The farmers
of this State who have gone into sheep raising are making money. Cheap moun-
tain lands in the northern section and cut-over lands in the coastal plains sec-
tions, combined with all-the-year grazing, is the reason for it.
The cut-over land of the State furnish almost ideal conditions for sheep rais-
ing. As a matter of fact sixty per cent of all the sheep in the Southern States are
raised on cut-over land.
Sheep are rarely fed, being simply permitted to pick up their living on the
open range both Summer and Winter.
Horses and Mules.
Because of the severe work in the saw mill and turpentine industries required
of mules, it is necessary to replace the hybrids very frequently, and on this
account there is a great demand for them. In the rapidly growing farm develop-
ment of the State the breeding of horses and mules offers attractions to the
Northern farmer not lightly to be considered.
Pigs Growing Into Money on Alfalfa Pasture.
Page Sixteen
GEORGIA
Georgia — A Packing House State.
During the past five years a number of meat packing houses, operated under
Government inspection, have been established in Georgia.
These pacl<;ing houses are being operated successfully — some have made ad-
ditions from year to year and they provide a cash home market for all meat ani-
mals grown in the State,
Today, Georgia has slaughtering plants at Moultrie, in Swift & Company, ; the
Waycross Packing Company at Waycross ; the Bulloch Packing Company, at States-
boro; the Tifton Packing Company at Tifton; the Savannah Abbatoir & Packing
Company at Savannah; Macon Packing Company at Macon; White Provision Com-
pany at Atlanta, and abbatoirs at Augusta and Albany.
Georgia Quality.
Georgia has produced so many superlative products in vast quantities that
"Georgia" has gradually come to be known as an adjective signifying quality.
Sugar Cai^e that Makes from Two to Seven Hundred Gallons of Syrup to the Acre.
There is the nationally known "Georgia peach", "Georgia cane syrup", "Georgia
watermelon", "Georgia cotton", and now, in keeping with the progressive wave
sweeping over the entire United States, overshadowing all one-crop ideas, and bring-
ing to the front the idea of permanent agriculture based upon live stock, "Georgia
hogs", and "Georgia cattle" are gradually becoming as well known as its other
famous products.
Few States have the diversified topography, climatic conditions, and altitude pos-
sessed by Georgia. The Blue Ridge Mountains enter the northeast corner and ex-
tend one-third across the State. This range has many peaks, varying in altitude
from 1,000 to 5,000 feet, and from these sightly elevations, clear down across the
State to the Wiregrass country in the southwest corner and the Atlantic Seaboard
in the southeast, the State literally teems with agricultural, horticultural and live
stock opportunities that need only introduction to energetic farmers to pay mag-
nificent dividends upon the small investment of intelligence and capital required.
GEORGIA
Page Seventeen
Goose Farming is Profitable in Georgia.
Smaller Unit Farming.
Georgia for many years has held a dominant position in the list of cotton-
growing States, and vast plantations have for generations been planted annually
in this king of Southern crops. While cotton continues to be the principal
crop, economic changes are gradually taking place that operate to break up
these large plantations into smaller units to be developed as live stock and diver-
sified farms, and these lands can be purchased at low prices and upon easy terms.
In the districts where yellow pine forests have been converted into lumber,
these "cut-over" lands that never before had a crop planted on them are also be-
ing placed on the market at attractive prices.
Land values cover a very wide range, from a nominal sum per acre for the
cut-over lands in the southern part of the State and mountainous lands that can be
converted into splendid orchards, or utilized at no expense for sheep ranches, to
more than a hundred dollars per acre for the most highly developed farms.
Many Climatic Zones Found.
Georgia extends four and a half degrees of latitude from north to south and its
altitude ranges from sea-level in the south to over five thousand feet in the
north, which is responsible for the many climatic zones found within the bound-
aries of the State. Of the seven climatic zones in the United States six are found
in Georgia.
In the mountains are resorts at which Northern and Southern people in vast
numbers spend the summers, and South Georgia is a favorite playground for
Northern people in the Winter.
Diversified Agriculture.
Every crop known to the temperate zone and a number that thrive only under
semi-tropical conditions can be grown in Georgia. Wheat can be grown in fully
Dairying Offers Unlimited Opportunities in Georgia.
Page Eighteen
GEORGIA
two-thirds of the State, but there are so many other crops that yield greater re-
turns with less expenditure, that the State has gradually taken up other crops,
although in the days gone by, before the bonanza wheat fields of the West were
opened up, there was hardly a creek in Middle or North Georgia that did not have
en its bank a mill that ground all the flour used in the community.
Many Crops a Year.
It is possible on farms of Middle and South Georgia to get more than one
crop in the same year upon the same acre. Oats, wheat or rye can be seeded in
October, harvested in May, and a crop of corn, velvet beans, peanuts, Sudan grass,
sweet potatoes, peas for hay, and many other crops can be secured on the same
acre, and harvested in time to seed again in the Fall, thus securing two or more
crops on the same acre during the same year. Irish potatoes in South Georgia are
planted in February, dug in May, and any field crop can follow. In fact the
progressive farmer plants his corn in the middle of his potato rows, so that when
he digs his potatoes he gives his corn the first cultivation, and a little later on
plants velvet beans or peanuts between the corn rows, thus giving him three distinct
crops from the same acre in the same year.
Watermelons are planted in March, gathered in June and July and followed
by a crop of cow peas or late sweet or Irish potatoes.
Cotton.
"King Cotton", as it is commonly called in the Southern States, produced last
year around eleven million five-hundred pound bales, for which approximately a to-
tal of a billion dollars was received.
Georgia harvested 1,884,000 bales in 1917, receiving on an average of twenty-
eight and eight-tenth cents per pound, or $271,283,000.
Cattle Raising Pleasurable Pastime of Big League Ball Players.
GEORGIA
Page Nineteen
Winner of Third Prize — International, Cliicago and American Royal, Kansas City in 1918.
In 1918, this State produced 2,100,000 bales on 5,338,000 acres, from which
an average price of twenty-seven and one-half cents or $288,750,000 was received.
An additional revenue of $71,400,000 was received from 1,050,000 tons of cot-
ton seed, averaging in price $68.00 per ton.
It is the one crop of which the United States has practically a monopoly. It
naturally follows that new settlers coming into Georgia to take up farming should
grow cotton, not exclusively, but as one of the several crops, raising as many acres
as can be cultivated without going outside of the family for help.
Northern farmers coming to Georgia find that they can grow cotton and handle
it m every stage of production with as much ease as they did corn or wheat, and
the returns per acre for cotton, under intelligent management, are much more
than it is possible to realize from any single staple farm crop that can be grown
in the North.
There is a local cash market for every pound of cotton that can be grown.
Sea Island Cotton.
Georgia has almost a monopoly upon the production of the famous Sea Island
cotton, which has a staple much longer and finer in texture than upland cotton,
nine-tenths of the area producing it being in the State. Sea Island cotton has been
developed patiently over a term of years by judicious seed selection, until it has been
perfected to such an extent that it usually sells for about three times the price of
the upland crop.
Sea Island cotton only thrives where a certain combination of soil, climate,
moisture and humidity obtain, and the seed must be separated from the cotton
with entirely different machinery from that used in ginning the short-staple cot-
ton.
Page Twenty
GEORGIA
Ante Bellum Plantation Homes Surrounded by Pristine Forests of Long Leaf Yellow Pine, Which ^
and Cultivate Vast Acres Amid Ideal Conditions Uns
GEORGIA
Page Twenty-one
ly Northern Families Have Modernized and Beautified with Landscape Gardening. Here They Live
sed Anywhere for Health. Comfort and Happiness.
Page Ticenty-txoo
GEORGIA
Corn.
The fact that the South annually produces nearly a billion bushels of corn, valued
today at nearly a billion dollars, and this from an average yield of only twenty bush-
els to the acre, (which includes that raised under poor methods) makes plain the
future possibilities of this section as a corn producing region.
The essential factors for successful corn production are good lands, good seed,
good care of the crop and a favorable season. Georgia has plenty of good corn
land, and the climate is especially favorable.
The varieties of corn that are usually known as prolific seem to be especially
well adapted to conditions in Georgia. On the good lands of Georgia where the crop
has had good cultivation, as high yields are made as anywhere in the Northern Corn
Belt.
In 1909 the total production in the State was 39,000,000 bushels.
In 1916 it was 62,000,000 bushels ; in 1917 it was 72,000,000 bushels ; in 1918,
68,850,000 bushels were made.
Better farming methods, rotation and the work with the Boys' Corn Clubs are
responsible for this tremendous increase, and with the increase in production na-
turally follows larger numbers of cattle and hogs.
Method of Corn Cropping.
The Georgia farmers have a way of capitalizing their dirt and dollars through
the beneficence of climate that is entirely unknown to the Northern farmers.
When the Northern farmer plants corn he plants corn and nothing else with
it, and he harvests his one crop. In Georgia velvet beans, cowpeas, peanuts, soy
beans and pole beans are grown with it.
The advantage of handling the corn crop in conjunction with these other crops
may be summed up as follows:
(1) It yields a large amount of forage per acre.
(2) Does not reduce the yield of corn under proper conditions.
Jersey Cows and Duroc Hogs on Alfalfa Pasture in February.
GEORGIA
Page Tzventy-three
Grand Champion Boar, International Live Stock Show, Chicago, 1918.
(3) Vines and pods can be grazed after frost.
(4) Seed cost per acre is small.
(5) Best soil building crops known.
This is a distinct advantage which Georgia corn farmers have over corn
growers in the Northern and Western States, especially the farmer with live stock
to graze off the roughage. It is like adding another field to your farm.
Velvet Beans.
The velvet bean has effected a bloodless revolution in the agricultural methods
of the State of Georgia. It has demonstrated the advantages and possibilities of
a diversified system, and the success of this plant has been wonderful on account
of its high feed and fattening value for cattle.
Because of a vast amount of vines, high in all fat producing elements, it is
generally used by cattle raisers all through the State. It can also be turned un-
der, thus producing a great amount of vegetable matter for the production of hu-
mus in the soil.
There are few crops that pay stock men better than velvet beans, especially
if they live south of the 34th parallel, which runs through Middle Georgia.
Velvet beans are particularly valuable in the fact that they can be planted in
corn in May and a double crop of corn and beans be made, without much inter-
ference with each other. They do not deteriorate if left in the field for grazing
throughout the Winter.
They are exclusively a Southern crop, and give to the South an advantage
in cattle and hog grazing throughout the winter months, without the expense of
harvesting.
Yields of twenty-five bushels per acre are common, particularly where careful
cultivation has been given the crop and the beans have been planted early and
in good soil.
Page Twenty-four
GEORGIA
As velvet beans have a feeding value almost equal to corn, it will be seen that
the product of an acre capable of producing twenty bushels of corn may be prac-
tically doubled by planting beans in the corn.
As a gatherer of nitrogen and provider of humus, and consequently as a soil
builder, the velvet bean is right on top.
Cases are on record where a crop of velvet beans plowed under when green
has actually doubled the yield of the money-crop the following year.
The rank growth of vines also provides an excellent Summer cover crop,
preventing washing and promoting bacterial life in the soil.
A ton of velvet beans is worth about half as much as a ton of good cottonseed
meal.
Ten of these Boys Averaged 115 Bushels per Acre.
Roughly speaking, choice cottonseed meal contains about 40 per cent of diges-
tible protein and 9 per cent fat. Velvet beans contain between 20 and 22 per cent
of digestible protein and from 5 to 51/2 V^^ cent of digestible fat.
Georgia had 402,000 acres in velvet beans in 1917, with an average production
of eight bushels per acre, and received $2,728,000 for them. In 1918, the acreage
had been increased to 588,000 acres, yielding 13 bushels to the acre, for which $7,-
373,000 was received.
Feed MiUs.
While velvet beans are most economically harvested by allowing cattle and
hogs to range through the fields, where they consume practically 100% of
the entire crop, the demand on the part of dairymen and cattle feeders for a con-
centrate has caused many mills to be established throughout the State, where the
ear corn, stalks, blades and the velvet beans, vines, pods and stems, are all ground
together, making practically a perfectly-balanced ration.
The demand for this concentrate is much greater than it has so far been pos-
sible to supply, and the raising of velvet beans for grinding into meal gives prom-
GEORGIA
Page Twenty-five
"".•^r!^
Fifty Acres of Oats that Threshed 51 Bushels to the Acre.
ise of becoming an industry of almost as great economic wealth as the cottonseed
industry has already proven to Georgia.
Wheat and Rye Growing.
The acreage of Georgia wheat in 1917 was only 244,000 acres, from which
2,074,000 bushels was harvested, having a value of $6,015,000. In 1918 there was
an increase to 356,000 acres, which brought to the State $9,658,000.
Georgia uses about 9,000,000 bushels of wheat annually, and until recently its
production was only around 2,400,000 bushels, but under the stimulus of war, the
production has shown a great advance.
The Georgia State College of Agriculture, co-operating with the Office of
Cereal Investigations of the Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department
of Agriculture, has conducted experiments in various parts of the State, and
has determined that wheat can be profitably grown in most sections of Georgia,,
for home consumption, and in some sections on a commercial basis.
Rye is grown in Georgia on almost all soils on which common field crops are
usually planted, and in the Coastal Plains sections of the State good yields are
secured where wheat cannot be profitably grown for grain. Rye may replace wheat
or oats in the regular rotation ; however its greatest use is as a pasture and green
manure crop.
Tobacco.
One of the newest and most lucrative developments in Georgia's agriculture
has been the introduction of tobacco. The amount of tobacco raised in the State
in 1909 was so small that no mention is made of it in the 1910 Census.
In 1916, 1,534,000 pounds were produced, having a value of $414,000 or $318.-
60 per acre.
Colonial Home of One of Georgia's Islands Now a Winter Home of a Northern Family,
Page Twenty-six
GEORGIA
Tobacco Sales Warehouse.
In 1917, 1,600,000 pounds were produced, valued at $912,000, or $570.00 per
acre.
In 1918 there were 2,668,000 pounds produced, valued on December 1st, at
$1,334,000 which is on the basis of $460.00 per acre.
It must be remembered that on this particular acreage the tobacco was what
is known as "Bright Leaf" tobacco that was grown in the sun and flue-cured. In
other sections tobacco is grown under a partial shade, by building a shed of laths,
so as to permit the sun to shine on the crop only one-half the time, and in
this partial shade is produced a much finer grade of tobacco that is used for
the fillers and wrappers of cigars in place of the Havana and Sumatra tobacco that
is usually imported for this purpose. This wrapper and filler tobacco sells for much
more than the sun-grown crop, which accounts for the high average of the State.
Active tobacco markets have been established at various points, and Georgia
has a high reputation for the quality and quantity production of bright leaf to-
bacco. Soil and climate are just right for it.
Sweet Potatoes.
Georgia has for years been a large producer of sweet potatoes, and recently
practicable storage houses have been erected that have made their marketing
profitable. This is particularly true of the southern part of the State. From 9,-
000,000 to 11,000,000 bushels are produced annually in Georgia.
The sweet potato comes nearest of all horticultural crops to being a staple
product, and in adaptability to Georgia soil and general conditions it ranks second
to cotton.
There were produced in 1909, 7,426,000 bushels, which had increased in 1917 to
11,625,000 bushels, valued at $14,950,000 and in 1918, 11,960,000 bushels were pro-
duced.
Shetland Ponies, Jersey Cattle and Silos are Money-makers.
GEORGIA
Page Twentif-seven
?4 1*^ . ^1
Oats that Threshed 40 Bushels to the Acre Harvested May 10th.
Sweet potatoes mature in South Georgia the middle of June, and are har-
vested from then until the middle of November.
The yield ranges from 100 to 400 bushels, depending upon the season at
which they are dug, and the amount of care and skill used in cultivating them.
Curing Houses Big Aid to Farmer.
Science has proven that in a properly-constructed sweet potato house, where
the roots can undergo a sweating process they can be kept indefinitely, and there
are many such warehouses constructed in Georgia with a capacity of many thous-
ands of bushels. This obviates the necessity of glutting the market by flooding
it with too many potatoes, and they are kept in storage until such time as the
price is satisfactory to the grower.
Irish Potatoes.
A large acreage has been planted annually in recent years in Irish potatoes,
and the production has grown from 900,000 bushels in 1916 to 1,610,000 bushels
in 1918. This is the very early crop of potatoes that always commands exception-
ally high prices from the housewife who has tired of eating cold storage potatoes
all winter, and welcomes the new crop, and is willing to pay handsomely for them.
In 1916 the per-acre value was $105 ; in 1917 $163, and in 1918, $129.
Hay.
A few years ago vast quantities of hay were annually shipped into the State.
This condition is being rapidly remedied, and where in 1909 only 261,000 tons of
hay were raised, in 1918 615,000 tons were cut worth $23.50 per ton.
Corn and Velvet Beans on Same Land Pictured Above Seventy Days After Planting.
Page Twenty-eight
GEORGIA
'm^Vt J^b
A Cozy Mountain Cottage.
Seeds and Nursery Stock.
An industry of considerable magnitude in Georgia is the growing of vegetable
and flower seed and nursery stock for both wholesale and retail trade. There are
numerous plantings of practically everything named in the catalogues of the seeds-
men or horticulturist, and recently an aggressive farmer has launched extensively
into the raising of bulbs, and is profiting through the failure to import this year
tulips, narcissi, gladioli and other bulbs from foreign countries.
This raising of bulbs offers particular attraction especially to those who have
had any previous experience.
Sugar Cane.
Sugar cane, or "long sweetening" as it is called locally, has long been one of the
favored stand-bys of the Georgia farmer. It requires about the same attention as
corn, and yields a tremendous tonnage per acre, which when made into syrup pro-
duces 300 to 700 gallons.
The lowest price at which it has sold for many years has been about 40 cents
per gallon, and it is now selling on the farm for $1.00 and more.
Sorghum.
Sorghum grows well on almost any land, and is adapted to all parts of the
State. Soil that is suited for cotton, corn and vegetables will grow good sorghum.
Sorghum is used here for making syrup, as a pasture crop, as silage, as a soil-
ing crop, or may be cut and used for hay.
Peavine Hay Yields an Average Income of $23.50 per Acre.
GEORGIA
Page Txcentif-nine
Shorthorn Cows on Georgia Range Pasture.
Fruit Growing.
Fruit growing is one of the most attractive phases of farm life in Georgia ; it
is a form of intensive culture, and pays more per acre than the crops of the general
farm. Nature does half the work and asks no share of the profits. The conditions
of climate and soil in Georgia are such as to make not only a great industry, but
an abiding one. The climate insures not only the life, but the vigor of the tree and
the quahty of the fruit.
Georgia produces a wide variety of fruits; there are really forty-six different
fruits that can be commercially produced here. They range from the semi-tropic
character of those in the extreme South, to those of the temperate zones in the
northern part of the State.
Apples.
The Georgia apple crop is increasing each year in volume, and by reason of the
splendid attention that is being given the trees and improved packing methods, are
bringing the highest prices.
In 1917 the crop was 1,754,000 bushels, and the December price $1.20 per
bushel.
In 1918 the crop was 1,760,000 bushels at a value of $1.65 per bushel.
The Georgia State Horticultural Society has divided the State into four horti-
cultural divisions, namely : The Mountain Section, the Middle Section, the Southern
Section and the Coastal Plain Section. Generally speaking, the apple is not adapt-
ed to the middle, southern or coastal plain sections of the State, though there are some
varieties that thrive exceedingly well in the Middle Region, and some commercial
orchards are located there. In many respects the section of North Georgia where
the commercial crops are grown resemble very closely the noted regions of Oregon
NNheat Is Big Money Maker in (.eorgia.
Page Thirty
GEORGIA
Brood Mares. They Do Farm Work and Raise Mule Colts.
and Washington where fruits of widely known excellence and beauty are grown.
The soil of the Northern region is rich in the necessary plant foods, the analysis
showing a high percentage of potash. The general topography of the country is
mountainous, the lands available for apple culture having an elevation of from 1,000
to 2,500 feet. The long growing season, bright sunny days and fairly cool nights of
this region primarily adapt it to the culture of this most important fruit.
This industry has attained its greatest production and perfection in Haber-
sham and Rabun counties. Georgia has a great advantage in the apple industry,
inasmuch as apples can be grown here and delivered to the Eastern markets for
the cost of delivery from the West.
Peaches.
Internationally famous, the Georgia peach is the queen of fruits, and the pro-
duction of peaches in this State has grown to such proportions that it now rep-
resents one-third of the commercial crop of the United States. The peach industry
has made remarkable progress in its development during the past decade.
There are 18,000,000 trees in the State, of which a large area has not yet come
into bearing, yielding a revenue of $10,119,000.00 in 1918.
The growers have organized themselves into what is known as the Georgia Fruit
Exchange, which handles in a most efficient manner the bulk of the crop grown.
The industry is highly organized, and growers have usually realized a good price
for their crop.
While the peach thrives in all sections of the State, and there are several dis-
tinct producing sections in the mountainous district, it is in the South-Central part
where the Georgia peach has reached its highest development.
Oats and Vetch That Cut Two Tons to the Acre.
GEORGIA
Page Thirty-one
-»«, -.-->>* -^
?iifcij^*^^. '.1. ¦l', "^¦' *-»^-
' --**
Sows and Pigs on Peanut Pasture.
The Elberta, which is the favorite variety in Georgia, was originated by one
of the State's growers, and has proven to be the best peach to ship. The Carmen,
Early Wonder, Georgia Belle, Hale, Mayflower and Greensboro are raised in con-
siderable quantities, the Mayflower and Greensboro coming on the market during
the early part of June and commanding choice prices because of their earliness.
In 1917 the State produced 4,716,000 bushels of peaches, and in 1918, the crop
totaled 6,746,000 bushels. Prices ranged from $1.50 to $2.50 per bushel.
Miscellaneous Fruits.
Cherries are planted to a large extent, especially in the northern part of the
State.
Plums are grown in all sections.
Strawberries are grown in many districts for the local market, and in some
sections the berries are shipped in carlots to the early Northern markets, bringing
in returns of from $100 to $300 per acre.
Blackberries, raspberries and dewberries are also raised in quantities and are
eagerly taken by the local markets.
Pecans.
Paper shell pecans find in South and Middle Georgia an extremely congenial
home and reward the growers who have the patience to wait the number of years
necessary for them to come into bearing with a wonderful yield of very large, thin-
^ ->:*» AMltikH^
Winter Cabbage Which Will Be Followed by Corn.
Page Thirty-two
GEORGIA
White Faces Make Big Gains on Georgia Range and Velvet Bean Pasture.
shelled nuts, that, because of their size and superior quality, readily sell at prices
upward of 60 cents a pound. These paper shell pecans will run anywhere from 30
to 60 nuts to the pound, and inasmuch as a tree 25 years old will shade one-eighth
of an acre, it can be readily seen that it has a bearing surface that will enable it
to produce hundreds of pounds of nuts.
The paper shell varieties are all budded from recognized producing trees, and
production and sale of nursery stock has become an industry of considerable mag-
nitude.
While it takes the trees seven or eight years to come into commercial bearing,
they are planted so few to the acre that they do not in any degree interfere with
farming operations, which can be carried on until the trees come into bearing
without either interfering with the other.
Satsuma Oranges.
Not content with the multitude of horticultural products native to this State, the
progressive Georgia fruit grower is now planting a variety of orange that in a very
short time promises to develop into an industry of its own. Georgia is not gen-
erally looked upon as being able to produce the citrus fruits, but in the Satsuma it
has found a variety that finds a congenial home climate and soil in South Georgia.
This is a delicious member of the citrus family, entirely seedless with thin
skin, that can be taken off in the hand without releasing any of the juice. It ma-
tures much earlier than any of the other known varieties of orange and gives prom-
ise of becoming of vast economic importance.
Ten-Year-Old Paper Shell Pecan Orchard.
GEORGIA
Page Thirty-three
Georgia Produced 11,960,000 Bushels Sweet Potatoes in 1918.
Figs.
One of the fruits that is very dear to the Georgia housewife's heart is the fig,
and these trees with their wonderful loads of healthful fruit can be found in prac-
tically every yard in the State. The varieties principally planted are Magnolia,
Celeste, and Brown Turkey, and they are canned and preserved for home use and
to some extent have been shipped commercially.
In certain parts of South Georgia there have been recently successful experi-
ments conducted with the Smyrna fig and it promises to grow here as well as it
does on the Mediterranean shore.
Apiculture.
Fruit culture and Apiculture go hand in hand, and even in sections of Georgia
where there are no commercial orchards the keeping of bees not only supplies a tre-
mendous store of honey for the family, but is also remunerative.
It is not necessary to house the hives in order to insulate them from the cold
as it is in the North, and the bees have a longer working season.
There are several points in Georgia from which honey is shipped in car loads,
and several bee keepers number their hives by the thousands. Quite a business is
also done in the shipping of queen bees.
The Georgia Watermelon.
Georgia has attained distinction in many ways, but nothing has added more to
her fame than the watermelon. The quality is absolutely unexcelled both as re-
Mules that Helped to i'ut Georgia in Fourth Place in \ alue of Agricultural Products.
Page Thirty-four
GEORGIA
Georgia Produced 12,000,000 Bushels Oats in 1918.
gards flavor and size. The annual shipments of watermelons from Georgia amounts
to more than 12,000 car loads. They are grown in all sections, but principally in
South Georgia.
Trucking.
Everybody now knows what "out-of-season" products mean — vegetables and
fruits ready for the market at the very time when the market is lean. That is the
highest priced period. Strawberries, cantaloupes and peaches from Georgia are
''out-of-season" products and bring the very highest prices, for they are matured
and ready for the markets of the North when the North has just begun to plow
for the staple crops.
The Gulf Stream, that great modifier of temperature, permits, in the garden
calendar of South Georgia, practically all the hardier vegetables to grow through the
whole year, but of course there are months when it is best to set out certain plants.
Don't Forget the Hen.
A handful of chickens in a back yard will never make an Qg^ farm. The man
who comes to Georgia intending to go into the poultry business as a bread and but-
ter maker, had better hit the thousand-layer mark right from the start. Nowhere
in the country will he find better conditions than right here in Georgia. The mild
climate, an abundance of green food easily obtained and the steady demand for
both eggs and chickens means success to anyone who will come here and go into
the poultry business right.
A good hen lays in a year from four to six times her weight in eggs. It takes
a strong living machine to stand the strain of such an output. Every hen, young
or old, lays in the Spring. An old hen may draw her rations three times a day
"^h^
^
One of the Velvet Bean Feed Mills — a Rapidly Growing New Industry.
GEORGIA
Page Thirty-five
One of Georgia's Packing Houses tliat Kills MilJions of DoJlars Worth of Hogs Annually.
through the Winter and not lay an Q^g, but when the leaves begin to come out, the
green starts, the air becomes warm and soft and the sunshine genial, that old hen
lays every day.
Spring conditions force hens to lay. Furnish Spring conditions for nine to
twelve months in the year, and if you keep the right kind of hens, taking proper
care of them, they will lay in Georgia the year round.
Ducks and geese are good money-makers down here, and thrive splendidly
along the water courses, especially geese, as they live principally by grazing.
Progress in Education.
There is a combined effort of all the people throughout the State of Georgia
to make their schools second to none. A Hberal policy has been adopted by the
boards of education, for our people realize that it is through our young boys and
girls that our future development must come. They believe that the public school
must develop the power to think; give an appreciation of the true, the noble and
the beautiful; secure mastery of vigorous expression, and above all develop a
clear discrimination between right and wrong. The people of Georgia are striving
to increase human wealth through the education of the child-head, heart and hand
— using the most progressive and best tried means known to the world. The meas-
ure of Georgia schools is to be found in the high-class men and women they are
sending into the world's activities.
The Georgia State College of Agriculture, at Athens, takes a high rank
among similar institutions throughout the country. This institution trains agricul-
tural students in the science pertaining to correct farm practice, that they may
receive a thorough and liberal education. The Georgia State College of Agricul-
ture maintains an extension service which concerns itself with the giving of in-
Seven Thousand Fat Hogs Awaiting Slaughter at One of Georgia's Modern Packing Houses.
Page Thirty-six
GEORGIA
Georgia Produced 3,631,000 Bushels Wheat in 1918— Value per Acre, $27.13.
struction and practical demonstration in agriculture and home economics to per-
sons not attending college. This service is free to farmers at all times, working
generally through the country demonstration agents. The University and its
branches compose a chain of colleges extending to every part of the State.
They include the Georgia School of Technology at Atlanta, The Medical Col-
lege at Augusta, three normal schools for teachers, one each for North, South and
Middle Georgia, at Athens, Valdosta and Milledgeville respectively, in addition to
the main institute at Athens.
Besides these activities of the State there are notable educational institutions
under private and denominational auspices. Atlanta has Emory University and
Oglethorpe University. Agnes Scott College at Decatur and Cox College at
College Park, are well known colleges for young women. Mercer University for
young men and Wesleyan for young women are at Macon; Shorter College at Rome
and Brenau College at Gainesville, for young women, and many others in different
parts of the State, attract pupils not only from Georgia but from all over the
United States. Every town, city and almost every village in the State now has a
three-year high school, and during the past ten years more than six million dol-
lars has been spent on school buildings.
Good Roads.
Georgia is rapidly changing bad roads into good roads, and the economic ef-
fect is being felt all over the State in increased land values and better conditions
generally. In many counties of the State road building of a substantial character
is going on constantly, although much of the road building in Georgia was held up
on account of the war, as it was in other States. A new program of road construc-
tion is being drafted, and the business men and farmers of the State are deter-
mined that it will be aggressively pushed to a successful conclusion.
.TeE_r.*'r-.-_ A
''^rs-'
Shetland Ponies Popular as Corn and Pig Club Prizes.
GEORGIA
Page Thirty-seven
'U^^s
^3
Imported Jerseys on Bermuda Pasture.
Water Abundant and Perpetual.
An abundant water supply is one of the greatest advantages the stock raiser
can have. Artesian water is almost everywhere accessible from 50 to 200 feet in
the Coastal Plain areas of the State, and many of the artesian wells are flowing
wells.
Wealthy Agriculturists.
In certain sections of South Georgia a development has taken place during the
past few years that is really unique in the annals of progressive agriculture
throughout the Union, because of the manifold attractions offered for living the
year round.
A large number of very wealthy Northern and Eastern men have been attract-
ed to this section. They purchased large tracts of land, and were termed
upon their arrival "Agriculturists", which is defined by the farmer as "a man who
makes his money in the city and spends it on his farm". Because of the wonder-
ful possibilities in this section, however, this definition has proven incorrect.
Notwithstanding the willingness of these wealthy men to lavish money upon
their holdings with little or no desire for return other than the pleasure they se-
cured from living upon their place during a part of the year, when they began to
farm along the progressive lines, they found that their operations not only
supplied their places with all the products necessary to care for their stocks and
employees, but at the same time returned them profits upon their investment suf-
ficient to defray all the cost of the development and leave a margin.
Many of these places are improved to a superlative degree. Ante bellum plan-
tation homes that were built seventy-five years ago have been remodeled, pergolas
Corn, Velvet Beans and Peanuts Growing Together and Each Making a Maximum Yield.
Page Thirty-eight
GEORGIA
One Hundred Acres of Cotton that Made More than a Bale to the Acre.
and other improvements added, and are today among the most magnificent archi-
tectural types of farm houses that can be found anywhere.
Many of these places under the direction of eminent landscape gardeners are
veritable botanical gardens, and because of the munificent climate and long growing
season, the gardeners were able to produce results here that it would be impos-
sible for them to achieve in other sections, on account of the manner in which they
could combine both the usual products of the temperate and sub-tropical zone.
To the lover of the beautiful in nature, nothing could be more pleasing than
the native flowering shrubs and trees which are being used to beautify these es-
tates.
Georgia's Islands.
The mention of Georgia without reference to the islands along her Atlantic
coast would be incomplete. Through some peculiar geological fault nature has
reared these bits of land from the sea and given them such elevation that they
do not overflow. Many of them are located at points opposite to where rivers
discharge their waters into the ocean, and these rivers for centuries have been
bringing down the very richest soil of Georgia and depositing it upon the shores
of these islands, making them as rich and fertile as the valley of the Nile.
It was upon one of these islands that the first sea island cotton was grown in
America, and a century ago before our civilization had become so dependent upon
rapid transportation facilities, these islands were the homes of the culture and beau-
ty of the land, and many extensive plantations were operated at great profit.
The pendulum is swinging backward and there is now a tendency to once again
develop the fertile lands on these islands into farms and live stock ranches.
Peavine Hay in Stack.
GEORGIA
Page Thirty-nine
Oak Trees on St. Simons Island Under Which John Wesley Preached to the Indians.
Aid for the Farmer.
Keeping step with the trend of modern agricultural progress, the State of Geor-
gia is served by a number of agencies having the interest of the farmer at heart.
Practically all of the counties have demonstration agents and home econo-
mics agents working under the State College of Agriculture, and in many coun-
ties there are two of these agents employed. A corps of specialists in beef cat-
tle, dairying, poultry and other phases of farming are constantly traveling
throughout the State advising the farmers as to the best and most economical
methods.
The various railroads serving the State also maintain efficient staffs of agri-
cultural agents, who have been selected with special reference to their ability to
impart the knowledge developed at the Experiment Stations to farmers and to
give special attention to the newcomers, and see to it that they are made famihar
with all of the crops and methods that have proven profitable in their new location.
The State Department of Agriculture also is active in all matters pertaining
to the increased prosperity of the farmers, and its recently established marketing
bureau is serving most efficiently a genuine and long felt need in finding a pro-
fitable market for all kinds of farm produce and live stock.
Come and See Georgia.
The wonderful opportunities that Georgia offers can be best appreciated by a
personal inspection of the conditions as they exist: that is all the Agricultural Sec-
tion of the tJnited States Railroad Administration asks. "Come and see Georgia"
and you will be convinced.
Jekyl Island Club, the I'amous Winter Home of America's I'inancial and Industrial Leadfets.
Come to Georgia
By DR. ANDREW M. SOULE, President
Georgia State College of Agriculture
Come to Georgia, the land of sunshine and opportunity. Three million
acres of land still virgin to the plow await you, Mr. Soldier and investor.
It is cheap beyond belief, though priceless because of its boundless possi-
bilities. Georgia is the great new West of this generation. Unfortunately,
it is still largely unknown to that restless, surging young manhood of
America that is still seeking something to subdue, to overcome, to be
built up and developed through his creative imagination.
Georgia still has approximately 16,000,000 acres of undeveloped land
on which the sun shines nearly every day in the year. Much of it is
gently rolling, the balance practically level. Nature waters it abundantly
with from 50 to 80 inches of rainfall annually. All sorts of soil types
abound, but for the most part those predominate on which cotton, certain
of the grasses, many of the best known forage plants, all of the legumes,
seed and oil bearing crops, and semi-tropical crops worth while cultivating,
return the husbandman from 100% to 1000% on his labor and investment.
Georgia has a mild and equable climate, and is highly progressive in
all matters pertaining to schools and churches. She has 2,000,000 people
within her borders, and her 60,000 square miles of territory still afford
privilege and opportunity to all true Americans. From an acre of her
soil $500.00 to $1,000.00 of wealth has often been garnered in a year.
Frequently one crop pays for the land, and in some instances the improve-
ments as well.
Georgia already produces food and animal products worth $800,000,-
000.00 annually. The growth and development of livestock enterprises in
the last decade has been little short of phenomenal. Georgia stands fourth
among the States in agricultural production and sixth in swine production,
having increased the numbers of this class of animals by 1,000,000 head in
a period of five years. Georgia has highly organized packing plants and
splendid transportation service, thereby insuring the prompt marketing
and delivery at profitable prices of the output of her farms and orchards.
Here is a state in which all the necessities of the human race may
be economically produced in so far as food and clothing are concerned.
All the known and useful crops, plants, and animals helpful to mankind
find here a natural habitat. What more could man desire than good soil,
bright sunshine, an equable climate, friendship, opportunity and privilege?
The motto of the State is "Wisdom, Justice and Moderation". Let us be
friends together, you to bring and give us the additional good citizens
we need; we to give you a full cup of welcome heaped up and running
over with the good things our State so abundantly affords.
¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦^¦¦¦¦- ' ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦^¦ ¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦ i ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ ¦¦¦¦¦XM-*:
¦ ¦ ¦¦'¦¦¦¦ ^
GEORGIA AND ITS DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURE
Georgia, the Empire State of the South, ranks first
among the States East of the Mississippi River, both in
area and in value of crops produced, and fourth in pro-
duction among all the States.
Georgia has an abundant rain-fall, evenly distributed
throughout the year, which insures ample moisture for
all crops.
Georgia is a State of small farms; the 1910 census
shows a large increase in farms from 20 to 49 acres, the
average being about 100 acres. Today, perhaps, the
average is from 50 to 75 acres. Our developed farms
and fertile virgin acres are within the reach of the man of
small means, and land can be bought in all sections of our
State.
Georgia has a well organized and efficient Department
of Agriculture and its work is sub-divided to cover every
phase of agricultural activity, as follows:
1. Dissemination, through bulletins, the result of re-
search work conducted at the Georgia Experiment Sta-
tions.
2. The State Board of Entomology is active in work
to combat ravages of insect pests upon all vegetation,
including vegetables, fruit and nut trees, and has two
Research Experiment Stations for the purpose of seed
breeding and to perfect methods for the extermination
of the cotton boll weevil and other insects. Skilled
specialists from these Experiment Stations are ready at
all times to visit any part of the State to render expert
service and advice.
3. Enforcement by Inspectors of the Pure Food and
Drug Laws.
4. Strict police regulations are maintained to pro-
tect Georgia citizens against the sale of inferior fertil-
izers, illuminating gasses, and oils that are below the
legal standard. All analyses of food, fertilizers, oils,
etc., are made in our own well-equipped laboratories.
5. State Veterinarian directs the prevention and
eradication of diseases among domestic animals and di-
rectly polices the dairies and meat markets.
6. Maintains a Bureau of Markets, which renders
valuable aid to farmers in marketing crops — it considers
the marketing of commercial crops, live stock, etc., equally
as important as its production.
7. Maintains a co-operative service with the U. S.
Bureau of Crop Estimates, directly in charge of the Fed-
eral Field Agent, and Georgia's Agricultural Statisti-
cian.
Georgia's Commissioner of Agriculture, besides being
the head of the Department, embracing all of the above
branches, is, also. Commissioner of Immigration. It is
the policy of the Department to urge its own homeless
and landless citizens, both rural and urban, to buy and
develop farms while there is still an abundance of cheap
lands.
One of the first mottoes inscribed in Georgia's records
was, "Non sibi sed aliis", not for ourselves but others ,
and today Georgia, being a land of unlimited opportuni~
ties, throws to the breeze the same sentiment on her
banner of welcome to the prospective citizen.
Respectively submitted,
By J. .1. BROWN,
Commissioner of Agriculture.
Ld
)KKiriAL MAH OP <;E«R<;1A. ISSUKI) BV IIBI'ARTMENT ok A(;KK ILTfRE. m» J. J. Brown, torn mission,
Climate is like Gold. It is only where you find it".
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦I
Hfere 5 (Beorgla
Singin' the song of Hope and Home,
Here's Georgia!
Fields light-white with the fleecy foam,
Here's Georgia!
Where the corn hangs heavy and climbs so high
It tells the gold in the mines "Good-bye",
And hides the hills from the mornin' sky.
Here's Georgia!
Call o' the golden-hearted hills
Of Georgia!
The gold-deep mines and the whirrin' mills
Of Georgia!
Clear as the mornin's trumpet call,
The notes o' the message rise and fall ;
"Hearts to hold you and homes for all
In Georgia!"
Her tables creak with plenty spread
By Georgia!
With Peace herself for to bless the bread
For Georgia!
The welcome word is the word we know ;
God's own land where the good things grow ;
The Horn o' Plenty's the horn we blow
In Georgia!
—Stanton.
