Imperial Valley press., 1922-11-13
IMPERIAL VALLEY
IN BETTER SHAPE
THAN EVER BEFORE
Winfield Barkley Points to
Stability of Trade in
This Valley
BL WINFIELD BARKLEY

Manager, County development Bureau;
Southern Trust and Commerce Bank
Once upon time, the people of
Kansas were in n pessimistic rut, and
/the state was the jest of joke and song
the country o 'er. William Allen White,
editor Emporia Gazette, could stand
il no longer, and penned an epic
"'What is the matter with Kansas?'
The prosperity of that wonderful agri-
cultural section dates from that editor
ial which set the people of developing
Kansas to think Alright, doing things
in a rational and common sense way
and sticking everlastingly at it.
The Great Imperial Valley, which
outranks the fertility of the famous
Nile Valley, is the proven garden spot
of North America, dividend producer
of great potentiaities-But:
The speculative landlord, often the
absentee landlord, who has been leas
ing at top rentals and seeing the rentor
financed on an almost impossible shoe
string, is no longer able to do things
after his own liking and is crying to-
high heaven that Imperial Valley is
going to the bowwows.
The large landowner, who heretofore
has been finding ready money to spend
in labor spread over hundreds of acres,
who has been scratching the top of
the ground and who has been crop
gambling in the. hopes of making a,
killing, is worried.
The Hindu is Struggling his should
ers in idleness or, with the japanese
is seeking other fields where he is
more welcome.
Stops Professional Trader
And there is another class which we
purposely place after the Hindu and
Jap--the professional trader-the man
who has been going around among our
dairymen, persuadin&- them, to hold
sales and dispose of their dairy herds.
lie is the man who has no vision of
the morrow nor has the best interests
of the valley at heart.
AS n consequence, our merchants are
not thinking in terms of new seven
passenger ears or of European trips.
You and | have been absorbing some
of the psychology abroad in the land,
and. khile we have not exactly lost
our pep, we are not over enthusiastic.
Let us look at the real facts in the
case.
One year ago, cotton was selling ut
Is to IL cents, while today it is bring
ing 27 cents, with extra grades selling
IN to 30 and 81 cents. Butter fat IS
around so cents as compared with 33
cents n wear ago. Corn is bringing
S36 and $37 per ton, as compared with
$50. Barley which sold year ago at
$1.05 is now $1.S5.
Il. d yUIll p
ly be distributed by the mutual water
companies as a part of the absorption
program. Two and one half million
dollars is an item in the budget for
drainage purposes. The new court
house calls for 100000, to be expend-
ed in wages and for materials.
But best Of all, the valley is gradual
" returning to fundamental crops-to
the accentuation of alfalfa, the dairy
herd, hogs and feeder cattle which are
the foundation of real agricultural
prosperity. Another evidence that we
are on the right track is the newly
formed cow testing association which
will eliminate the boarder cow and put
the dairy business upon substantial
basis.
Must Quit "Luxuries'
The buying capacity of the country
as a whole is not what it was during
the war period. The people of the
Eastsare cutting down on "table lux
uries' to great extent, only buying
those crops which they canrpt get
along without You and / must take
| our cue from this fact and go in for
those crops which are fundamentally
necessary-those crops which do not
fluctuate as greatly as table lux
uries. y Cantaloupes, lettuce, etc,
| Continued on Page Eight