John Porter Fort

“ He knew that in the rich soil of this section wonderful crops could be made under irrigation, and that with an inexhaustible water supply a few hundred feet below the surface, the development he foresaw would in time come to pass.
Colonel Fort was no dreamer, though some persons thought he was when he began boring the first artesian well in Georgia. He lived to see hundreds of flowing wells and thousands from which pure water is pumped, and another generation will no doubt see his vision of a section made fabulously rich by irrigation likewise realized. ”

“ The wanton destruction of bird life by man has so decreased them that it threatens the world with a great calamity. We must teach the young generation to refrain from this destructive work, and that the birds are our useful friends. Teach them to love the birds, to admire their plumage and song, to study their habits, and to realize that they contemplate the work of a munificent Creator who has fashioned these beautiful inhabitants of the air. ”

“ I believe in the future this water power will be developed for irrigation. It will not require much capital, if the inexpensive furrow system of irrigation is employed, and the well once obtained is permanently there. I picture that part of the State prospering with the raising of cereals and cattle. There will be beautiful farms and comfortable homes. Thus showing that adding water to the other bounties of nature, this land can yield abundant crops with the aid of the wisdom and industry of man. ”

“ I was struck with the wise provision of nature that gives the horse the power of shaking off insects by a twitch of the skin.
General P. G. T. Beauregard, who commanded the Confederate forces, rode down our line. We gave him a cheer, and I remember crying out, "Let us go forward." My impression was the right one. If our victory had been followed up, we could easily have captured Washington, and the outcome of the war would have been very different. But we waited and gave the aroused North full time to recover from their defeat, and place large armies in the field. ”

“ The pecan industry in Georgia bids fair to be a very large one, as hundreds of acres have been planted.
My belief in the agricultural possibilities of Georgia is so great, especially in the growing of fruits, that I wish to mention all my work in this line, the successful experiments and the ones that have not yet, from one cause or another, proved successes, such as my cherries in north Georgia, and my experiment with figs in south Georgia. The latter proved a failure because of the avidity and lack of coöperation of the railroads. Figs are too perishable to stand shipping. ”

“ What he did for the fruit—especially the apple—industry in North Georgia is known to every man at all conversant with the state's development.
A lake in the southern part of the state covered acres of fertile soil. Generation after generation of men had found no means of drainage. Fort found one. He studied the geological formation of the country, applied the knowledge he had gained by his artesian well operations, and reasoned that probably the lake could be drained—as no man ever had drained a lake before—from beneath. ”

“ I note that John P. Fort, of Mount Airy, is dead. I write you this because it seems to me a movement should be initiated by some one to establish a memorial to this great man. He would not want a monument. He would be the last man in the world to care for anything like display. It seems to me, however, entirely fitting that a special appropriation could be made by the board of county commissioners of every county in south Georgia to the end that a small mountain school might be established somewhere about his beloved Mount Airy. ”

“ As an agriculturist as well as naturalist I have been always interested in the insectivorous birds [76] as a great aid to man in the destruction of insects. I know of no bird that does not eat insects, except the goldfinch. I remember once examining the stomach of an American swift, it contained a mass of insects, six hundred and fifty mosquitoes and gnats which had been caught on the wing that day. Especially valuable is the purple martin because he can be attracted to our fields and orchards if the proper kind of house is made for him. ”

“ They often present scenes of sunshine and clouds so inspiring and grand that they seem to encircle us with the majesty of Almighty Power. This rain upon a well-drained soil is very adaptable to the growth of splendid apples. On seeing what fine apples could be grown without cultivation, one naturally asked what could not be done with modern scientific culture. I wished very much to plant an orchard in that favored section. ”

“ I have had placed around my cotton fields forty martin boxes. I am confident that these birds will greatly lessen the depredation of the boll weevil in my fields. As the martin returns every year to the same home, each year I hope to have a larger colony.
We must protect the birds. A great French savant has said that in seven years, without the help of insectivorous birds, the world would become uninhabitable by man. The destruction of insects is greatest during the nesting season of the birds, as a young bird is a small mill continually [78] grinding up insects. ”

“ Pillars of smoke arising from barns and peaceful dwellings gave us notice that Sherman's army had commenced its forward march. Our little regiment was the rear-guard in nearly all of our march through the State. I shall not give in detail the various scenes and incidents connected with our marches and countermarches in front of the great Federal army, nor shall I describe the scenes of confusion among the people. We had less than ten thousand men of all arms, of these about five thousand were infantry. The enemy pursuing us had more cavalry than our entire force. ”

“ Colonel John P. Fort is one of the sure-enough progressives of the State. His progressivism is not destructive like that of the Western politicians, but is of the sort that promotes the welfare of his State. It is well-known that he gave to Georgia her first artesian well. Albany followed his example and became the "Artesian City," appropriate sobriquet—for it is a city of artesian wells.
Some couple of years ago or more Colonel Fort [86] decided to experiment with truck gardening on his Dougherty County farm. He built a huge reservoir for the purpose of irrigation. ”

“ My irrigation plant in south Georgia having proved a success, the Department of Agriculture at Washington sent a special irrigation engineer to Tompkins plantation to make a report. Such a good report was made that the Department conferred upon me the title of Collaborator of Irrigation, giving me a diploma stating this fact.
As I stated near the beginning of this story of my life, I believe that my mind and temperament are those of a naturalist. From my boyhood my interest in birds has never abated. ”

“ Fort is able to talk with nature, we might compare him with Benjamin Franklin; he has been honored by our University with the degree of Doctor of Science. Dr. Fort was not satisfied with growing apples in northeast Georgia (in Rabun County) , which took the prize in Spokane, Washington, at the great apple show, and for the last year or so he has been studying the conditions and needs of south and southwest Georgia, and while he was on duty as a Confederate soldier, he saw the beautiful Wakulla River on the coast of Florida, as it bursts forth into the Apalachee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. ”

“ Every flowing artesian well in Georgia is a never-ceasing tribute to Colonel Fort—the "practical scientist," as Mr. Alfred Newell calls him.
Colonel Fort drove mosquitoes from his Dougherty County plantation by the simple device of putting up martin-gourds and bird-houses at the homes of his tenants. He had discovered that the swallows and martins fed on mosquitoes, and determined to locate them on his premises by building little houses for them. ”

“ An official publication says that the sanitary advantages that have resulted to many towns and localities all over the southwest Georgia coastal plain through the pure, wholesome drinking water of the artesian wells, are seen in the fact that sections once dreaded as malarial and sickly are now considered among the most salubrious in the State and are increasing more rapidly in population than even the hill country of north Georgia. ”

“ He replied that which most impressed him was the fact that on a piece of land watered by irrigation such splendid fruit and vegetables were raised that it was worth five hundred dollars an acre; adjoining this tract was land which could be bought for one dollar per acre because it could not be reached by water. This showed the great value of water, both pieces of land being of the same fertility.
There is no section of Georgia that is arid, but a large section of southern Georgia is subject to prolonged summer drouths, when the crops burn badly, sometimes being totally destroyed. ”

“ At the time I joined the 1st Georgia, it was commanded by Major R. A. Wayne. The colonel, and lieutenant-colonel had been disabled by wounds and illness and never rejoined the regiment. Major Wayne became colonel. He was personally one of the most fearless men I have ever known. He was a gruff man, short and peremptory in manner, in camp disliked by his officers and men, but in time of battle, especially in great danger, commanding the respect of all. ”