Colonel Fort has also been a pioneer in the field of irrigation in this section. Several years ago he publicly proclaimed the belief that a series of inexhaustible water-bearing strata runs beneath thousands of square miles of southwest Georgia territory, and he predicted that in time these strata would be tapped at many points, and drawn upon for water which would make garden spots of innumerable farming districts. He again showed his faith in what he proclaimed by drilling another artesian well on one of his Dougherty County plantations, where he has constructed and operated an irrigation plant that has given splendid practical demonstrations of the possibilities of this kind of agriculture in southwest Georgia.
Colonel Fort has also made valuable contributions to the advancement of horticulture, and his apple and cherry trees, in north Georgia, are famous throughout the United States. He has raised the finest apples ever produced in the South, and several years ago the University of Georgia conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science, in recognition of what he had done for Southern horticulture.
Colonel Fort was a gallant Confederate soldier, and personally was beloved wherever he was known, particularly in Albany, Macon, Atlanta, Athens, and Mount Airy. His death is a distinct loss to Georgia.
The Albany "Herald," Wednesday, Feb. 14, 1917.
What Colonel Fort Believed
It was the belief of the late Col. John P. Fort that much of southwest Georgia, including all the western part of Dougherty County, would one day blossom into a veritable garden spot as the result of a peculiar natural condition.
Colonel Fort bored the first artesian well in this section, and had made a lifelong study of the geology of the southern part of the State. He contended that a flowing artesian well might be secured almost anywhere in this region, but it was his belief that in the territory where he had made especially careful investigations, including West Dougherty, a vast water-bearing stratum, or perhaps several such strata, lay below the surface and that the supply of water held there could never be exhausted. Many springs in south Georgia and Florida, including the great Wakulla spring and a number that boil up from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, were fed from this stratum, according to Colonel Fort's idea.
The picture in the mind of Colonel Fort, as he often spoke of this rich blessing enjoyed by our section, was of a region to the surface of which a part of this water supply had been brought for use in irrigation plants. He himself built such a plant on one of his Dougherty County plantations, and gave practical demonstrations of what it was possible to accomplish. The United States Government became interested in the experiment, and sent experts to make observations and lend assistance.
Colonel Fort did not expect to live to see his dreams come true, but he believed they would materialize for other generations. 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.