58 ECONOMICS OF LAND TENURE IN GEORGIA [eg 



fight waged against the jute bagging trust for the pur- 

 pose of lessening the expense connected with wrapping 

 the bale for the market. So resolutely was this battle 

 fought that for a year or two a large percentage of the 

 cotton was wrapped in cotton bagging instead of jute. 

 Then too a co-operative plan of buying fertilizers met 

 with some success in the way of cheapening this article 

 for the farmer. 



These particular successes, however, were of minor 

 importance as compared with the general stimulating 

 effect of the whole movement. The agitation and inter- 

 change of ideas were educative in a high degree, and 

 tended to make the farmers more alert in promoting 

 their economic interests. As a result of it all, risks were 

 somewhat lessened, and the farmers were enabled there- 

 fore to deal with the merchants upon better terms. 



It was said above 1 that three influences in particular 

 have contributed toward improving the condition of the 

 farmers of the state. One of these influences, that, 

 namely, of the Alliance movement, has been described. 

 The second influence is the increase in the number of 

 country banks in recent years. At the end of the year 

 1903 there were in Georgia two hundred and twenty-one 

 chartered state banks besides the forty-six national and 

 several private banks. 2 About one hundred and twenty- 

 five of the state banks have been chartered since 1898, 

 and a large percentage of them have been located in the 

 small towns within easy reach of the farmers. These 

 banks are proving to be of great service to the farmers, 

 especially to the land-owning farmers, in liberating them 

 from the credit system. Money is borrowed from these 



1 Supra, p. 52. 



2 Annual Report of the Treasurer of Georgia, 1903, p. 2. 



