Imperial Valley press., 1922-10-16
VALLEY SUCCESS
SEEN BY EDGAR
IN SMALL FARMS
President of Realty Board
Sees Big Future for
Small Tracts

Elimination of the land speculator
rs the solution of practically all the
difficulties that have confronted lm-
perial Valley heretofore, is advocated
by Ray Edgar, president of the IA
Centre Realty Board, who believes that
the ultimate prosperity of the valley
and the success Of its people rests large
ly OH the development of small tracts,
preferably 40 acres, by the owners
themselves. The day of the large ranch
in Imperial Valley is passing, in Mr..
Edgar's opinion, aad ranehcrs arc be-
coming aware more and more cach day
that the best return can be obtained
from the so-called "one-man farm
with a diversity of crops.
"By the land spcculator, said Mr.
Edgar, 81 mean the man who come 3
into the valley AMI purchases 100 or
320 or more acres Of land, which he
rents out TO the ranc.lcr who works the
land while the owner lives in comfort
somewhere mp the coast, deriving n
good living off the land without doing
81 single thing toward its improvements
This places Il burden on the land under
which we have been staggering foi
years ana until this burden is thrown
or, real prosperity cannot be achieved.
Look at this condition from IA plain
business standpoint. AT the outset,
the land must bear an expense of s25
to so an acre for tchtal. Add TO this,
wafer charges, Cpkecp of ditcheS, seet,
labor, farm implements and the ordin-
ary overhead of ranch. The rancher
has been raising such crops rs barley,
cotton, corn and even lettuce and can
taloupcs, or crops which can be raised in
other sections at less expense than We
raise them here. thereby making 1T
almost impossible for him to operate
at profit---with the exception of the
eantaloupe and lettuce crops-anl even
with these il is Il gamble whether or
mot he is going to cEd up on the right
aide of the ledger.
Rent Cause of Poor Soil
"We have been hearing great dcai
about the need for fertilization of Inn
peri:.l Valley lands, as the soil has be
come worn out in a lreat many PAGES
NhyP simply because the land IS rent
ed land. The man VIVA is renting is not
going to put money INTO fertilizer Or
do anv more than he can help to raise
good crop, get his roney and repeat
the operation until he has made suffi-
cient money TO pull out and try the
same game elsewhere. Why sho,.ld ho
care whether the lard becomes impov-
crished or not 7 lie docsr I own it. The
real owner lives elsewhere, and possibly
doesn't see his. land here for a period
of years. The renters, japanese, HIM
dus or whitos can I see why they shou!l
endeavor to enrich the soil on the pal
icular piece they rent, when they can
lease land in some other section OF the
valley that is in good ccrd:tion, Tn Y
Just move on when the soil rcacles AN
unproductive stage and tnen the owner
finds himself possessed of land which
he cannot rent Tie Immediately SETS
up wall that Imperial Valley land is
no good and that kind of publicity
even though It be false, is NOT doing
the rest of w cno bit of good. On tue
contrary, it does MS IN immense amount
Of harm.
''Whcrc land has to be irrigated,
there is always a certain amount o..
extra expense TO be figured that does
not exist in non-irrig table coinmuni-
ties. When we raise crops that can bt
aised elsewhere without this initial
or ever present expense. and where
labor can be secured at lower wages,
we are bucking against Il stone wall in
trying TO get ahead. 1t just can t h,
done and the sooner we realize it, the
better for all Of us.
81 believe theN eNsmali ranch will not
'only solve these difficulties, but put
The ranchcrs on the absolute road TO
success. Treated li2htly, there is no
better land in the world than we have
Inra nur .nmhtnat,nu .f cnI ,nl al: