Arizona republican., 1920-09-28

The SOlUL1On OI any one DTODlSAl assists in the solution of the others.
 q Labor. No matter how well we may have succeeded, through the gen. era1 cotton growers association, with out which association I believe we would have been most seriously handi- capped yet there is no assurance that we shall likewise succeed in the fu- | ture.
 T believe the best and surenst solu- tion of the labor problem is smaller | scale operations by actual resident l farmers. A consistent application of this procedure might lessen the num- | Der of city 'agriculturists' Gas distin- | guished from ranch resident farmers) | but the ultimate result would un- l doubtedly be increased wealth to all.
 ct may be that large holdings will still be logical, but if so I lean to the | opinion that they must either be so large as to warrant an expert organl- zation or else be subdivided by means of the crop share tenant system.
 More Actual Farmers to Come "A great deal has been said and written adverse to the tenant system. Yet it has made many poor men in this valley practically independent. If ap piled fairly and inteuigently, with due regard to the future of the land itself, it comes about as near as anything in industry to being an application of contingent returns or profit sharing.
 
 | in the development of an industry Furthermore, often the crop share ten ant of today is the actual owner of 1 tomorrow. Certainly it is one means, | if applied to small acreages, of solving the labor problem.
 s'But probably the ideal situation Is l where the farmer owns and lives upon the land and cultivates it intensively. It is our purpose in selling the Good year ranch to prove this method. We stated three years ago that when de- veloped we would subdivide the ranches. The valley ought to welcome l that logical procedure. To say we are 1 deserting the valley is to ignore our statements of policy when first we | came here We shall continue, by l large scale operations and crop share tenants, to operate our Litchfield and comparisons.
 must be attacked both individually and collectively. It means seed breeding, cultural methods, land selection, pick ing and ginning.
 s. Quantity. The solution of this | problem is related to those of labor | and quality. Broadly speaking. the methods adopted to meet the first two 1 problems will meet this one of quan- tity Necessary thereto must be land selection and diversified cropping. We are carrying on some interesting ex- pariments in our Sariva1 department l with cover crops and interplanting. But they are still experiments; several years to alfalfa yet remains the old | reliab Even if interplanting should prove to be a means of keeping land indefinitely in cotton, yet 1t is still question if the average farmed would not be better off with diversified crops. A one crop country often breeds one idea mind as well as dependence on a single source of income.
 Cost of Production, Market and Price
 S'There is something wrong when a farmer can't make a reasonable profit on 60 cent cotton. I believe the farm CTS who are reasonably financed, who are operating on the right kind of land. at a fair rental price, and who will l raise the per acre yield that they 50 cent cotton than on any other crop f they can raise in this valley.
 s'The cost of production is a factor in fixing the price. but 1t fs by no means a controlling factor. The mar ket and price are primarily matters of supplying the demand. This law is in ! fIuenced by collateral or subfactors, I such as cost of production, financing, { mark eting methods, etc.
 i Our cotton here faces competition with the Egyptian and other lesser staples, such as Peruvian and Missis- , ! with ten to fifteen millions annual pro-
 duction of United States short staple.
 Our cotton is better. It has an in
 trinsic value above short. That value is usually reflected in a price ranging from two to two and one-haIf times : that Of short
 believe it will be worth approxi- mately that ratio to the tire com Ipanies, provided the growers can hold their cotton and market it gradually. They should not forget the significant :, fact the general market influence of z same that the tire companies have guaranteed a 60-cent price on probably
 70 or 80 thousand acres here and in Imperial and Yuma. There are some
 guaranties now of 75 cents.
 Land Values s Tn Egypt cotton land is selling as Q high as $3,000 per acre. That is due to several causes among them small ownership, large yield and low labor Q costs.
 e Salt River valley land will not reach such prices. But small ownership, plus : large yield plus high quality, will, I f personally believe, not only sustain $ present land prices but even increase them
 e Greater yield and higher quality |. can be secured. Last season our aver Q age per acre yield over our entire acre | age was within fraction of six -tenths
 
 r fact that much of our acreage was raw d desert. On certain selected acreages = given special care we exceeded a bale t per acre. We exceeded the valley aver r age by nearly two-tenths of a bale per t acre. That is illogical The small ; grower ought to beat us. I believe he
 can do it if he goes at it right It is our s desire to help him do that. Prime cot ?, ton land, properly handled, should run Q q bale to the acre in this valley. And n that's what we are interested in pri-
 marily; not what may be the selling Q price of real estate, but what shall be n the production ability of the land n Given large yield and high quality and q the price of real estate will adjust itself.
 Cost of Ching s Costs entering into the operation oi t gins have steadily risen. Even the bale a tax to the association has been in z. creased 10 $4. Nevertheless, last yea, Y the dinners kept the price down, hop q ing that by increased efficiency they ? could break even. I do not believe, a 1