SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE NEEDS FARM ANIMALS 47 



TOTAL PRODUCTION WILL INCREASE 



In order to produce these diversified crops and to 

 increase materially the number of farm animals 

 raised, it should not be assumed that the output of 

 cotton and tobacco need be decreased. On the other 

 hand, it should constantly grow larger. The South can 

 add enormously to its cotton crop without bringing 

 into cultivation a single additional acre, and at the 

 same time reduce the cost of production. It must 

 do this by increasing the efficiency of each farm 

 unit. The most accurate available figures appear- 

 ing upon this subject are those furnished by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. These 

 figures show that in 1900 Georgia, Mississippi and 

 Iowa had approximately each the same number of 

 farm families. The value of the farm products 

 grown by these farm families in Georgia was $104,- 

 000,000, in Mississippi $102,000,000 and in Iowa 

 $365,000,000. In other words, each farm family in 

 Iowa produced nearly four times as much wealth 

 as the family in Mississippi or Georgia. In pro- 

 ducing these crops, Georgia spent $5,700,000 for 

 commercial fertilizer, Mississippi spent $932,000, 

 while Iowa spent but $337,190. In other words, 

 while Iowa produced four times the farm wealth 

 that Georgia produced, Georgia spent 60 times as 

 much to raise each dollar's worth of produce as 

 Iowa did. The significance of these figures is fur- 

 ther illustrated when it is stated that, while Georgia 

 owns but $33,000,000 worth of live stock, Iowa has 

 $272,000,000 worth. These figures in themselves, 

 without further comment, should serve to point 

 to the Southern farmer the way out of his agricul- 

 tural wilderness. In all the history of agriculture 

 the connection between maximum crops and a high 



