21 July 1911: "All chicks...are alike to her maternal heart."

On this day in 1911, the Athens Banner ran this adorable story on the front page of their daily newspaper:

(click to enlarge image)

Though it often seems odd to see animals caring for the young of different species, cross-species adoption has always been common in the animal world, even among animals that would otherwise be prey for the nurturing parent. According to an article in National Wildlife magazine, "even in the unsentimental calculus of natural selection, it may be better to err on the side of compassion."

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jul. 1911 - Nov. 1911 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Parenting Paradox by Sharon Levy, National Wildlife Magazine, Aug/Sept 2002.
• Unusual Animal Families photo album in Global Animal magazine online.
• The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in the general collection.
• A Natural History of Parenting by Susan Allport in the general collection.
• Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding by Sarah Hrdy via PINES.
• Guess Who My Mommy Is by Ann Axworthy in the children's picture book collection.
• The Emperor's Embrace: Reflections on Animal Families and Fatherhood by J. Moussaieff Masson in the general collection.
• Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection by Sarah Hrdy via PINES.

21 February 1913: "Electric Hatched" Chicks

On this day in 1913, this vision of the future of poultry production was published in the Athens Banner:

Now, of course, the use of electricity-powered heat and air conditioning as part of poultry production is standard. According to the University of Georgia Extension Service, when brooding new chicks in a backyard  coop or on an industrial scale, newly hatched chicks require a 90-degree Fahrenheit ambient temperature, which can be lowered by five degrees per week until reaching 70 degrees, the ideal temperature for chickens.


The State College of Agriculture became part of the University of Georgia in 1932, and has continued to assist Georgia farmers state-wide improve their yields in everything from crops to livestock, but poultry farming has been Georgia's greatest agricultural success. 


In 2009, 54% of Georgia agriculture production came from poultry, with 26 million pounds of chicken being produced daily by the state. The industry brings $18.4 billion into the Georgia economy each year, employs over 100,000 people, and 105 of the state's 159 counties, including Clarke and Oconee counties, produce over $1 million in poultry-related revenue each year.



Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Feb. 1913 - Jun. 1913 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Department of Poultry Science at the University of Georgia.
• History of the College of Agriculture of the University of Georgia by Calvin C. Murray in the Heritage collection.
• Georgia Poultry Facts (pdf) from the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences website.
• Poultry Tips from the Department of Poultry Science Extension Service at UGA.
• Management Guide for the Backyard Flock from the Poultry Extension Service at UGA.
• The University of Georgia College of Agriculture: An Administrative History, 1785-1985 by Stephen J. Karina in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collections.
• A Century of Georgia Agriculture, 1850-1950 by Willard Range in the Heritage and general collections.
• Problems of Plenty: The American Farmer in the Twentieth Century by R. Douglas Hurt in the general collection.
• Keeping Chickens with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Care for a Happy, Healthy Flock by Ashley English in the New Books collection.
• The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit by Jennifer Megyesi in the general collection.

24 December 1897: "No Postage Having Been Placed Upon the Chicken..."

On this day in 1897, news of this holiday surprise was published in the Weekly Banner:

Learn More:

• Weekly Banner, Feb. 1897 - Jul. 1898 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• Mailability Standards of the United States Postal Service.
• Extraordinary Chickens by Stephen Green-Armytage in the general collection.
• Master the Postal Exams by John Gosney in the general collection.
• The Joy of Keeping Chickens by Jennifer Lynn Megyesi in the general collection.
• We Need Mail Carriers by Lola M. Schaefer in the children's collection.
• Raising Poultry the Modern Way by Leonard S. Mercia in the general collection.
• Postal Clerk and Carrier by John Gosney in the general collection.
• The Complete Guide to Poultry Breeds by Melissa G. Nelson in the general collection.
• Mailman: A Novel by J. Robert Lennon in the fiction collection.
• The Hoboken Chicken Emergency by Daniel Manus Pinkwater in the children's fiction collection.
• Can You Ship It? page for the United States Postal Service.

4 July 1911: "College on Wheels"

On this day in 1911, the Athens Banner ran the following editorial about the recent railroad tour of the state made by the State College of Agriculture, which at the time was still a separate institution from the University of Georgia:

 

 (click to enlarge image)

In 1911, the train from the State College of Agriculture visited 154 towns in 120 counties in 47 days. The train carried a passenger car for the educators and staff, livestock cars, and cars with modern farming machinery, with a center flat car that served as a stage. At each stop, the flat car was used for speeches promoting proven practices in farming methods, demonstrate the farming machinery, and exhibit the livestock. The train would stop overnight, with those on board eating at local restaurants and staying in local hotels near the railroad station, a boost to Georgia businesses outside agriculture.

These tours of extension education to improve agricultural outputs in Georgia began in 1908 and lasted until 1917. Extension work was highly promoted by College President Andrew M. Soule, and were immediately popular. Their first tour in 1908 brought out only about 150,000 people, but had ballooned quickly to "nearly four hundred thousand people" within just a few years. Dr. Soule believed that the State College of Agriculture was truly "the college with the state for its campus." 

Other outreach work included welcoming Georgia farmers to the campus farm and other cooperating farms for "field days" where they could demonstrate results of pasture development, winter grazing and foraging crops for livestock, and the effects of different practices on crop and livestock production. One of the earliest successful outreach campaigns was conducted with the Veterinary School to introduce the widespread vaccination of hogs to protect that industry from a devastating strain of cholera.

Formal offices for Agricultural Extension Services were not created until 1914. In later years, working at first with the Georgia Federation of Women's Clubs, the College's extension work expanded to other areas, with demonstrations of fireless stoves and iceless refrigerator, and the effectiveness of screening the home to prevent disease from insects. Later, new female Home Economics graduates from the College of Agriculture would hold community meetings to discuss health and nutrition, parenting techniques and child training, canning and pickling for food preservation, art, and physical education. 

The Agriculture College also helped set up "corn clubs" for boys around Georgia, a forerunner to the current 4-H Clubs. Within just a few years, the average per acre yield of corn by the boys' Georgia corn clubs was three times higher than the average per acre yield for the rest of the state.

The result of this groundwork in Georgia agriculture over the past century is Georgia's strong industry today: one-third of the state's land is used for farming, and sales of agricultural products earn nearly $7 billion. Despite ranking #28 in the United States for number of acres devoted to farmland, Georgia is the #1 producer of broilers (chickens), peanuts, and pecans; #2 in cotton, cotton seed, cucumbers, spring onions, rye, and snap beans; #3 in cantaloupes, bell peppers, sweet corn, and watermelon; and #4 in blueberries, peaches, and squash.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Jul. 1911 - Nov. 1911 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Historic Newspaper Archive collection in the Digital Library of Georgia.
• History of the College of Agriculture of the University of Georgia by Calvin Clyde Murray in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia College of Agriculture: An Administrative History, 1785-1985 by Stephen J. Karina in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985 by Thomas G. Dyer in the Heritage and general collections.
• The University of Georgia Under Sixteen Administration, 1785-1955 by Robert Preston Brooks in the Heritage collection.
• UGA College of Agriculture and Environmental Science website.
• UGA Cooperative Extension Services website.
• Georgia Statistics web pages on the National Agricultural Statistics Service website.
• The United States Department of Agriculture website.
• The United States Census Bureau website.
• The Georgia Department of Agriculture website.
• Linoleum, Better Babies, and the Modern Farm Woman, 1890-1930 by Marilyn Irvin Holt in the general collection.
• The American Family Farm: A Photo Essay by George Ancona and Joan Anderson in the Heritage collection.
• The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture by Wendell Berry in the general collection.
• The Essential Agrarian Reader: The Future of Culture, Community, and the Land, edited by Norman Wirzba in the general collection.
• Atlas of American American Agriculture: The American Cornucopia by Richard Pillsbury and John Florin in the Reference collection.
• The Profitable Hobby Farm: How to Build a Sustainable Local Food Business by Sarah Beth Aubrey in the New Books collection.
• Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil by Andrew Lee and Patricia Foreman in the general collection.
• Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance, edited by Deborah Burns in the general collection.

21 May 1897: "Athens can beat that egg."

On this day in 1897, the Weekly Banner published the following rebuttal to a fuss in Norcross:

 

Mr. M. C. Few was likely Mark Few, a local Bible salesman who lived on College Avenue, and therefore, an honest and reliable source.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest egg from a living bird was 5 pounds, 11.36 ounces, laid by a Swedish ostrich in 2008.

Learn More: 

• Weekly Banner, Feb. 1897 - Jul. 1898 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• 1904 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• 1900 U. S. Census images in Ancestry Library Edition via GALILEO.
• Big Egg by Molly Coxe in the children's Easy Reader collection.
• Secrets of the Nest: The Family Life of North American Birds by Joan Dunning in the general collection.
• Guess What Is Growing Inside This Egg by Mia Posada in the children's collection.
• The Complete Chicken Book by Justine Harding in the general collection.
• Georgia Curiosities by William Schemmel in the general collection.
• Strange & Unexplained Happenings: When Nature Breaks the Rules of Science, edited by Jerome Clark and Nancy Pear in the general collection.
• Eccentric America: The Brandt Guide to All that Is Weird and Wacky in the USA by Jan Friedman in the general collection.
• Encyclopedia of Strange and Unexplained Phenomena by Jerome Clark in the Reference collection.
• The Book of Why by Robert L. Shook in the Reference collection.
  

5 March 1954: Ham and Eggs Show!

On this day in 1954, the Seventh Annual Ham and Egg Show distributed awards at the Union Institute on the corner of Pope and Baxter Streets to competitors from Clarke, Oconee, and Madison counties. Athens and Hull dominated the proceedings.

First place overall winners were Tom Neely of Athens for Ham and Emma Lee Smith of Hull for Eggs. The 4-H Club Premium List student winners were Tom Neely of Athens for Ham, Benjamin Smith of Hull for Side, Betty J. Moore of Athens for Shoulder, and Robert L. Sheats of Athens for Eggs. Adult Premium List winners were C. G. Griffith of Hull for Ham, Valley Turner of Athens for Shoulder, Amos Smith of Hull for Side, and Emma L. Smith for Eggs. The first prize for Canned By-Products went to Corene Smith of Hull.

A total of 72 families entered 93 dozen eggs, 108 pieces of meat, and 36 canned by-products into the competition. There were adult and student prize categories, including a 4-H Club Premium list of winners for students. Prizes were donated by local businesses, but were not specified in the newspaper report. According to the University of Georgia extension agent for black Clarke County residents, Lloyd C. Trawick, the show had been the best yet for the three communities. 

The host of the two-day competition, the Union Institute, started life as the Jeruel Academy in 1881, a private school for African-American students that was supported by several rural churches. The co-ed institution had both resident and day students, and offered college preparatory, theology, industrial, and music instruction. They also had an intense football rivalry with the Knox Institute, the first African-American school in Athens. In 1886, the Jeruel Academy/Union Institute moved into their location at the corner of Pope and Baxter Streets, and would stay until the school's closing in 1956.

The Union Institute had hosted an Annual Farmers' Conference Course for Instruction for black farmers for nearly 40 years, featuring such speakers as University of Georgia Chancellor David C. Barrow and Dr. George Washington Carver. The goal of the conference was to educate black farmers about the latest practices in agriculture, and keep them aware of, and supporting, the work of the school.

Ham and Egg Shows began in 1916 when Otis Samuel O'Neal, the UGA county extension agent for Houston county's black farmers, was looking for a way to increase hog and poultry production amongst the residents in his district. The first show was simply called "The Ham Show," and featured 39 hams and 17 dozen eggs. In 1979, Fort Valley State University named their new veterinary medicine building after O'Neal. 

Today, only the Lowndes County Extension Service office still has Ham and Egg Shows, with entries of 46 cured hams and 40 dozen eggs in 2011. The show includes an auction for the winning items, with some hams selling for $25 per pound.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner-Herald, January - April 1954 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• A Story Untold: Black Men and Women in Athens History by Michael Thurmond in the Heritage, Young Adult, and general collections.
• Athens, A Pictorial History: 1801-2001 by James K. Reap in the Heritage and general collections.
• 1954 Athens City Directory in the Heritage collection.
• The People and the Land on the College of Agriculture, Home Economics and Allied Programs section of the Fort Valley State University website.
• Ham and Egg Show, an audio program part of the South Georgia Folklife collection on the Valdosta State University website.
• The Complete Pig: An Entertaining History of Pigs by Sara Rath in the general collection.
• The Incredible Egg: A Billion Year Journey by Dal Stivens in the general collection.
• The Joy of Keeping Chickens: The Ultimate Guide to Raising Poultry for Fun or Profit by Jennifer Lynn Megyesi in the general collection.
• The Useful Pig: 150 Succulent Pork Recipes by Roberta Wolfe Smoler in the general collection.
• The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham in the general collection.
• Babe on video cassette at the Bogart library.
• Chicken Run on DVD at the Royston library.
• Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss in the children's fiction collection.

8 July 1920: Police Jurisdiction Over Roosters Disputed

On this day in 1920, page 7 of the Athens Banner brought to attention this dispute on Pulaski Street:

Pulaski Street Is Disturbed By Early Crowing of Rooster

Family Calls Upon Police Department To Stop Disorder; Chief Says It Has No Jurisdiction.

The jurisdiction of the police department of the city of Athens over Pulaski street roosters was brought into question yesterday afternoon and will, it was stated at police court, probably be placed before council at its next meeting.

The cause of the legal point being brought into question was a hurry call to police headquarters answered yesterday afternoon by Patrolman Nelms. He was summoned to a Pulaski street home, the name of whose owner he refused to disclose when questioned yesterday, and informed that a neighbor's roosters were waking up the family at too early an hour since the summer days have brought dawn at 4:30 o'clock in the morning.

Patrolman Nelms has, in his years of police service, been called upon frequently to settle delicate technicalities of the law on the spur of the moment, but the Pulaski street complaint nonplussed him. He referred the complaining parties to the sanitary department or Sheriff Jackson and assured them that the City Council had not authorized the police department to control Athens roosters.

Chief of Police Henry Beusse suggested yesterday afternoon that other Athens people who are annoyed by early crowing roosters might petition City Council to pass a rooster-muzzling ordinance, but that until some official action was taken, the police department has no jurisdiction over the matter.

Captain of Detectives Seagraves said the call yesterday to stop "disorderly conduct" among the city's barnyard population was the first of its kind he could remember in all his years of service.

Neither the newspaper nor City Council Minutes indicate whether this issue was resolved in 1920, but it is an issue that is still relevant on Pulaski Street and in the rest of the city today. Currently, it is illegal in Athens to keep chickens on less than an acre of land in residential areas, but many people keep chickens, as pets and for eggs, despite the law.

In 2008, Commissioner Kelly Girtz, a resident of Pulaski Street, proposed changing the law to allow people to raise chickens in their backyard. He believed that because residents were keeping chickens anyway, it would be a good idea to regulate the practice for the purposes of public health and safety of both the area residents and the chickens. Even the Athens Banner-Herald agreed that such a law would be a sensible reaction to the situation, but the Athens-Clarke County Commission did not support the idea.

This March, HB 842 passed out of the Georgia House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, but even with some changes, was not supported by local governments, who balked at state laws overriding local ordinances. Commissioner Girtz plans to revisit urban farming on the Athens Commission in 2011.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner, Aug. 1919 - Sep. 1920 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, Jul. 1-31, 2008 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Athens Banner-Herald, Nov. 1-30, 2008 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Flagpole Magazine, July and November, 2008 in the Heritage collection.
• Extraordinary Chickens by Stephen Green-Armytage in the general colleciton.
• Chickens by Mary Ann McDonald in the children's collection.
• Egg to Chick by Millicent Ellis Selsam in the children's collection.
• Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry by Leonard S. Mercia in the general collection.
• Chicken Tractor: The Permaculture Guide to Happy Hens and Healthy Soil by Andrew W. Lee in the general collection.
• The Decorative Egg Book: Twenty Charming Idea for Creating Beautiful Displays by Deborah Schneebeli-Morrell in the general collection.
• Holiday Eggs by Georgeanne Brennan in the general collection.
• Chicken on the Grill: 100 Surefire Ways to Grill Perfect Chicken Every Time by Cheryl Alters Jamison in the general collection.
• The Cook's Illustrated Complete Book of Poultry in the general collection.
• The Impudent Rooster by Sabina Rascol in the children's fiction collection.

1 June 1923: Athens Has Always Loved the Farmer's Market

On this day in 1923, the Athens Banner-Herald reported that "Bright skies Friday indicated a large crowd at the Curb Market Saturday morning."

Potatoes, cherries, peaches, and beans were starting to "come in," and the paper reported that "the number of chickens brought to the market is increasing each day." The previous Tuesday, 65 chickens were brought from Oconee County, "where the farmers have organized a Co-operative Poultry Association."

Also available at the Broad Street market on Saturday would be turnips, turnip salad, potatoes, onions, English peas, hams, eggs, butter, "and other produce ...at reasonable prices." According to the paper, "The cabbage crop this year around Athens is fine and the vegetable brought to the Curb Market is very attractive."

The article also reported

Strawberries have about disappeared although two or three producers continue to bring them in and experience no trouble in disposing of them. Many Athens women want to preserve strawberries and buy several gallons each week for that purpose.

It is interesting to note the change in the condition of the products brought to Athens since the establishment of the Curb Market. Formerly most of the food crops brought to Athens were not selected and neatly packed and therefore could not command a good price.

Since the Curb Market began operation many farmers have learned from their neighbors who brought graded produce that they always sell out before those who did not pay much attention to the condition of the articles offered for sale. One man declared a few days ago the Curb Market has proved in a short while what the Agricultural College has been "preaching for fifteen years"--the necessity of grading products and packaging them neatly.

Prices for items at the market were given on the paper's "market page," which also included prices for items at stores such as Piggly Wiggly ("Fancy Groceries at Lowest Prices" included a quart of snap beans for 4 1/2 cents), The Wier Grocery Company (a 5-pound cloth bag of sugar cost 55 cents), King-Hodgson Company (1/2-pound can of Hersey's cocoa for 20 cents), and Combination Store Produce Department (Georgia string beans for 25 cents per gallon).

Market prices for Saturday, June 2nd, 1923 were:

Bean, string, 35 cents gallon.

Beets, 5 and 10 cents a bunch.

Strawberries, 15 cents a quart.

Dewberries, 15 cents a quart.

Butter, 30 and 40 cents a pound.

Cabbage, 5 and 10 cents a head.

Cake, home made, price according to size and variety.

Carrots, 5 and 10 cents a bunch.

Chickens, friers, 35 cents a pound.

Hens, 20 cents a pound.

Roosters, 12 cents a pound.

Eggs, 25 cents a dozen.

Eggs, selected, 30 cents a dozen.

Ham, home cured, 25 cents a pound.

Kale, 10 cents a peck.

Lard, home made, 20 cents a pound.

Lettuce, 5 and 10 cents a head.

Meal, corn, 2 1/2 cents a pound.

Onions, 5 and 10 cents a bunch.

Parsley, 5 cents a bunch.

Peaches, 35 cents a basket.

Peas, English, 20 cents a gallon.

Peas, field, 4 cents a pound.

Potatoes, Irish, 5 cents a pound.

Potatoes, Sweet, 25 cents a peck.

Sorghum Syrup, 50 cents a gallon.

Spinach, 10 cents a pound.

Turnips, 5 and 10 cents a bunch.

Turnip Greens, 15 cents a peck.

Squabs, 30 cents a piece.

Pure Bred Eggs, $1.00 a setting, orders taken.

Cherries, 25 cents a quart.

Today, Athenians can buy from local farms and other businesses from by attending the Athens Farmer's Market on Tuesdays downtown and Saturdays at Bishop Park. They run from May to November, and accept EBT payments. Year-round, Athens Locally Grown provides a weekly pickup of previously ordered items at Ben's Bikes next to the Reese Street Historic District. Though separate organizations, many area farmers participate in both markets, and both advocate the health and economic benefits of buying and eating local products.

Learn More:

• Athens Banner-Herald, Apr. 1923 - Aug. 1923 on Microfilm in the Heritage collection.
• Georgia Agricultural Handbook by the University of Georgia in the Heritage collection.
• Harvest: A Year in the Life of an Organic Farm by Nicola Smith in the general collection.
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver in the general collection.
• In My Garden: A Child's Gardening Book by Helen Oechsli in the children's collection.
• Vegetable Gardening from Planting to Picking: The Complete Guide to Creating a Bountiful Garden by Fern Marshall Bradley in the general collection.
• Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times by James W. Wilson in the general collection.
• The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face, Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask by Barbara W. Ellis in the general collection.
• Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry by Leonard S. Mercia in the general collection.
• History of the College of Agriculture of the University of Georgia by Calvin Clyde Murray in the Heritage collection.
• The University of Georgia College of Agriculture: An Administrative History, 1785-1985 by Stephen J. Karina in the Heritage collection.
• Soil Survey: Clarke and Oconee Counties, Georgia by Stanley M. Robertson in the Heritage collection.
• Georgia Peach Recipes by the University of Georgia in the Heritage collection.
• The Everything Canning & Preserving Book: All You Need to Know to Enjoy Natural, Healthy Foods Year Round by Patricia Telesco in the general collection.
• The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan in the general collection.
• In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan in the general collection.
• Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating by Mark Bittman in the general collection.
• An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage in the general collection.