Imperial Valley press., 1936-09-07

farm problem is not agrarian, but
industrial In other words, they
no longer think of the California
farmer as the little fellow the car
toonists picture with the straw in
his mouth, but as he swollen gent
with the plug hat labeled The In
terests'."
To appreciate the new city slant
on farm business, the metropolitan
analysis should be considered fur
ther. 1t continues:
"Dusty-shelf departments like the
census bureau have been yielding
up figures which have much to do
with this business. For instance,
the figure-chasers recently looked
up the dope on all farms in the
United States which produce $4,000
year or more. They discovered
shat above 80 per cent of all such
farms are in California. In cer-
tain limited crops, California has
roughly two-thirds of all the ma.
tion's big-return farms. A medium
example is cotton, where Califor-
nit, with 5 per cent of the acre
age, takes in better than 20 per
cent of the national income"
After some five or six years of
depression, with interest payments,
mortgage payments, tax payments
and irrigation systems = not to
mention lesser evils-the average
California farmer will undoubtedly
enjoy considering himself, for the
moment, in his new urban-giv
role as one of the vested interests"
After all, every farmers needs
good laugh after hard day in
the fields!
But the city viewpoint needs
analysis from the farm viewpoint,
nonethelesS. 1t has its serious as
poets.
AS to the charge that California
boasts 80 per cent of the farms in
the United States which produce
$4,000 a year Or more, the "acus-
alton" is likely true, although no
facts are at hand to support it.
Some California farmers took the
city man at his word, undoubtedly,
and went in for more business Or
ganization" in farming-espec
in branches of the industry which
require heavy capital investment,
such as the citrus industry. Rela-
tives and neighbors joined hands,
joined their holdings for more eff
ficient operation, and $4,000 in
comes came into being-but not
many individual farmers,. unfor-
tunately, can place themselves in
the $4,000 farm bracket. The
100000 has to be split too many
ways-and a 100000 farm can lose
money just as easily, and more
rapidly sometimes, than "the little
fellow with the straw in his
mouth"
But coming down to the cotton
incident. California, according to
the urban indictment, has only 5
per cent of the cotton acreage in
the United States but 20 per cent
Of the cotton income! The reason:
California has no boil Weevil; pro-
duces an average of bale to the
acre, while the southern safes pro-
duce but 1-3 or IA of bale per
acre. CALIFORNIA; freedom from
boil Weevil, incidentally, is due to
the often ridiculed quarantines
which have SO effectively pro-
tected the state from plant pests
and diseases. Another reason: Cal
ifornia, due to the progressive bus
mess policies of it's farmers, grows
only one variety of cotton in
district-gets "a more uniform
staple, better color and conse-
quently, better prices. Still anoth-
er reason: California farm coop
eratives are among the most ef-
ficiently operated in the nation.
But the average California farm
er-unhappy to reports still
worrying his head about mortgage
payments; perhaps even frowning
as he tucks a straw in his mouth
and speculates on the ease and
comforts of life in the big city.