The Henry County weekly. (McDonough, GA.) 18??-1934, November 22, 1912, Image 2
A Brief Economic and Social Sur~ vey of Henry County, Georgia For The Georgia Club. BY MISS MARY M WOODS. DOMESTIC ANIMALS ON FARMS AND RANGES. In 1910 there were 5965 cattle h gain of 11 per cent during the census period, but there were 8073 dairy cows, an increase of 38 per cent. Horses, 1455, a gain of 30 per cent, but a decrease in home raised colts from 76 to 44. This is perhaps the largest gain in horses in the counties of Georgia. Usually there is a loss in horses. Mules, 2791, an increase of only 5 per cent, which is perhaps the lowest increase in mules in the counties of the state; but home raised mule colts decreased from 49 to 21 during the ten years. Hogs, 5613, a loss of 22 percent. Poultry, 52,349, a gain of 14 per cent, but barely more than half the poultry in the county in 1890. Bee swarms, 878, a loss of 60 per cent. In 1890 there were 397 sheep in the county; in 1900, D 9, but in 1910 none. But there were 1184 dogs on the tax digest of this year. Col. I. C. Wade, of Cornelia, Ga., delivers himself as follows: “This country is one of the finest in the world to raise sheep in, but the people say, ‘No, sir, give me the old hound first; children are cheaper.’ Western stockmen come here and go back cussing the country out, often coupling our newspapers with our legisla tors. Hence, instead of coming to Georgia and buying land and set tling. they prefer to stay at home on land worth $150.00 to SIOO.OO per acre and raise and sell us high price beef.” Since we cannot have in Geor gia a dog license tax law, as eight other states in the Union have, might we not have a dog muzzle , tax law and put an end to the horrors of hydrophobia as Eng land, Germany, and the Canal Zone have done? Last year 486 .people, mostly women and child ren, were bitten by* mad dogs in Georgia, and the state is spending SIO,OOO a year t o cure rabies. Surely we value our children in Georgia more than we value our -dogs. CROPS. The 1910 census reports the crops of the county as follows: Cotton 63,899 acres, an increase of 20 per cent during the census period; average yield, forty-one hundredths of a bale, or just the same as in 1910. Fifty-five per cent of the cultivated area was in cotton. Only two other counties in Georgia had a larger portion of their cultivated land in cotton; Morgan and Jasper, 61 per cent each; but 56 counties have a larger yield per acre. Henrv county cot ton ranks high and is in great de mand with the Eastern mills. ► (Georgia: Historical and Indus trial.) Corn, 2688 acres, a loss of 10 per cent, during the census period; average yield 12 bushels, a gain of U percent. In 1910, 23 per cent of the cultivated area was in corn. Thirty-three counties had an in creased average in corn. Henry was one of the 113 counti s that lost in corn acreage during the ten years. Thirty-six counties had a Jarger per acre yield. Oats, 3319 acres, a gain of 39 j»er cent; average yield 17 bushels, a gain of 70 per cent. The avcr age yield for the state was 15 bushels. Wheat 3327 acres, a loss of 63 per cent; average per acre 10 bushels, a gain of 43 per cent. The average yield for the state was only 8 bushels. Sweet potatoes, 442 acres; aver age yield 86 bushels, a little below the average for the state. Dry peas, 2755 bushels, a gain of 16 per cent. Hay and forage, 2676 tons, most of which (2038 tons) consisted of grains cut green. HOME-RAISED FOOD SUPPLY. It will be seen that the home raised meat supply in Henry coun ty is meager, consisting in 1910 of one-third of a beef, one-third of a hog, and 10 poultry per person. Recently cattle have been selling on the hoof in Chicago at 12 cents per pound and pork sides a t $12.55. The meat supply of the country steadily falls behind the increase in population. Meat in the future promises to be higher still. It looks like the farmer’s chance. At all events, he can af ford to sell; he cannot afford to buy at present prices. Considering only the population and the work animals of the county, the 1910 grain crop of Henry fell short 139,271 bushels of what was needed as feed and food for man and beast. With com at sl.lO a bushel and flour at $6.25 a barrel (today’s quotations,) the people of Henry county were spending about $200,000 to supply this deficit. The 1910 census re ported $41,428 spent by the farm ers for feed alone. Add the mon ey sent out of the county for work animals, meat, bread-stutfs and fertilizers and you have a to tal of more than $600,000 that must be charged against the farm ers’ profits year by year. It is a king’s ransom, annually paid to aliens and strangers for supplies that might be raised at home. SCHOOLS. The 1911 report of the State School Commissioner shows 37 schools for white pupill (or one less than in 1900) and 37 for ne gro pupils (or 11 more than in 1900.) There were 84 teachers for these 67 schools, from which we conclude that the county has a number of two-and three-teacher schools. That looks good. Fifty seven of the white teachers had first-grade or life licenses and 27 of them had at least one year of training in Normal Schools. In 1911, 2,458 white pupils were enrolled or 82 per cent of the school population; and 1821 or 70 per cent were in average at tendance. These are very high per cents of enrollments and at tendance. Nevertheless, 26 9 white children were not register in the schools for so mnch as a single day during the year, while 406 were barely more than regis tered. In the negro schools, 2370 pupils or 71 per cent of the school pop ulation were enrolled, but only 1572 or 47 per cent were in aver attendance. In Henry as in al most every other county of the state, the attendance of negro children upon the country schools lags behind the whites. There were 454 white children registered in the first grade, but only 300 in the second grades: that is to say, 154 children, or more than one-third had dropped out of school, most of them to take np the burdens of life with one brief term of schooling in the first read er classes. Two hundred white children in Henry county reach the seventh grades; that is to say, more than half of the children who enter the country schools disap pear before they have received the full benefits of them. These facts arq disturbing, but Henry makes a far better show ing than most of the counties of Georgia in this particular. Only 34 negro children reach the sev enth grades, nr a little more than one in the hundred. Sixteen white schools in the county give high school courses to 418 white pupils; that is to say, 15 white children in the hundred in Henry reach the high school classes. In Clarke, Cobb, and many other good counties of Geor gia, barely more than two or three white country children in the hun dred reach the high school grades. There are 4 negro schools in the county giving high school in struction to 46 pupils; that is to say, 14 negro children in the thousand get as far as the high school. The county board in 1911 re ceived from the state $20,465; from local or municipal taxation, $1,348; from tuition fees, $15,169, from incidental fee. $2,025; from dona tions and so on, $1,798; and from other sources $1,250, making a grand total of $42,147. Only six county boards in Georgia spend more money than this for common schools. (Bibb, Chatham, Fulton, Dodge, Richmond and Whitfield.) No other county board in Georgia receives as larger sum from tui tions and incidental fees. The county board spent $36,836 for the schooling of white child ren and $1,780 for the schooling of negro children, giving 118 days of free schooling to white child ren and 100 days of free schooling to negro children. The cost of schooling a white child per month was $1.50. Sev enty-six counties of Georgia spent more for this purpose; for in stance, Clay $3.03, Pike $3.00 Terrell $3.09, and Quitman $4.76. The cost of schooling a negro child per month was 55 cents. Eight-two counties of the state spent more money for this pur pose. The county board owns 31 of the houses in which the 74 schools are taught, their valne being $36,150; average value, $1165 each. Three buildings are owned by municipalities, their value being $35,150. The average value of two of these is $17,500 each. The Baptist denomination owns one school property, valued at $40,000. The total investment in school property is $111,300. Only six counties in Georgia have more money invested in school proper ty (Bibb $335,000, Carroll $144,000, Chatham $482,000, Colquitt SIBI,OOO, Early $125,000, and Richmond $750,000.) Seventeen schools are equipped with 719 patent desks. Seven white schools and one colored school report school libraries. Forty children are transported in school wagons to two schools at a total cost of $501.00. The consolidation of schools and the transportation of children has made a great headway in other states, but the movement lags be hind in Georgia. A beginning in a small way has been made in 36 counties of Georgia. Far better than most counties in the state Henry is able to es tablish a county-wide, local-tax .-v ,j.>. MR. R. N. ETHERIDGE GOES TO MARKET FOURTH TIME The large firm of Etheridgs, Smith & Company sends a buyer to the western and eastern markets twice each year. They state that they have had the best business they ever had and that several lines have been sold out and will have to be replenished. Mr. R. N. Eth eridge of the firm leaves Saturday for St. Louis to attend the special sales of wholesalers, manufacturers and mills in that city next week. Mr. Etheridge states that this is one of the most profitable times to buy merchandise as, he says, manufacturers want to begin on spring goods and are willing to close out stocks on hand at a sacrifice. Upon his return to the city Mr. Etheridge says he will have something of interest to the trading public of this section that’s worth riding 20 miles to see. Advt. You Pay Half—Wc Pay Half The Southern States Life Insurance Com pany writes a twenty-payment policy contract where the insured pays ten premiums and the Company pays ten. The premiums advanced by the Company are not deducted from the original sum insured. Ask about this policy and have it and others fully explained to you. JULIANT.WEEMS GENERAL AGENT, McDonough, ga. The Southern States Life Insurance Co. ATLANTA, GA ' ' Llni’rf« yMTfjmi a a&msN _ WILMER L. MOORE, Pres. If It Is About Insurance Ask JULIAN T. WEEMS. scnool system. Already 28 coun ties have established such systems, giving to the country child chances at an educational equal to those of the city child. The salaries paid white male teachers in Henry average SBO.OO and white temale teachers $45.00. How can Henry maintain efficient country schools upon salaries ranging from $250.00 to $400.00 a year? The salaries paid female negro teachers is SIB.OO a month or $90.00 a year. The negro teach er worth only $90.00 a year is probably worth nothing at all, or w r orse. The problems of public educa tion can be solved only by local initiative, local pride, local self sacrifice; all of which means a liberal local tax for schools. The problem has been solved in no other way in any other state in the union. (Continued in next week’s issue.) FOR RENT—One one- horse farm and one two-horse farm. This is land I have just purchased. Also for sale one 15 horse-power Frisk traction engine and sa v mill outfit. Would sell part or all. Terms for good paper A. C. Norman. Route 1. Adv 11-22, 2. McDonough, Ga.