“It is related that the late J.J. Jones, during the palmy days of the seventies (1870s) when the virgin soil in that Red Belt section was at its best, and before erosion had marred the face of the fields, raised on a certain year on his farm nearly 1500 bushels of wheat, and that Jason Conley the same year produced more than 1000 bushels. Such was the fertility of the soil that it was not uncommon to produce from 30 to 40 bushels per acre. At that time, too, there were few insects to interfere with growing corps and fruits as we experience them at this day.
“Noxious insects and weeds as we have them today are not as a rule indigenous to the soil. They have come in by transportation. Our forbears were not concerned about so many troublesome insects and plant diseases as we experience. Neither were they worried with the many troublesome weeds that vex us today. Wheat, corn and other crops grew to perfection. No need to spray fruit trees. Most old people recall the time in their youth when peaches, apples and other fruits were faultless.
“Likewise many noxious weeds have been brought into our county to distress us. The bitter weed so common everywhere is a comparatively new arrival—probably about 20 years. The boll weevil and bean beetle have been here a dozen years. Other insects and weeds have come in at various times. No doubt others are to arrive by and by. This is one price that we must pay for our civilization. If we had had no railroads or other convenient communication, we might have existed many years without these undesirable pests. It is likely that the Civil war helped to spread these among us.
“Cotton of course is one of the principal crops in the county at present. It is to be regretted that our people have taken so seriously to cotton farming. Cotton impoverishes land. Cotton year after year for a few years and hardly anything else will grow there profitably—not even cotton. Examine the fields of the county; observe the bare hills and knolls in every field where cotton is raised. Lack of humus has caused erosion. We endeavor to overcome this by the use of commercial fertilizers, thus further impoverishing the land.”
from “History of Walker County GA,” by James Alfred Sartain, AJ Showalter Co, Dalton GA, 1932, online at http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ga/county/fulton/walkerhistory/