THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 187 



To one of these prosperous farmers, wheat, oats, hay, hogs and sheep, 

 sometimes even cattle, are things in which lie usually has no business 

 interest ; does not wish or need to .spend an afternoon or an evening 

 listening to a prosy discussion on their rare or cultivation. In New 

 York-. Illinois or Kansas a few topics can be announced at a state- 

 wide meeting like the presenl our. which will be of interest to the 

 farmers from the four corners of the state. Only a few producers 

 in California, relatively speaking, have a business interest in the 

 subjects discussed at this meeting. In California if a man is a walnut 

 grower he does not wish to discuss animals; if he is an avocado 

 enthusiast he wants the latest information upon the varieties, budding, 

 cultivation and distribution of this fruit. The growers of Japanese 

 persimmons ask for complete information as to the regions, varieties 

 and cultural methods. After him comes the man who grows nothing 

 but cantaloupes, who asks I'm- a method of determining- the percentage 

 of sugar in the melon without sampling it. 



Speaking in general terms, one-fourth of the farms of California 

 were less than 20 aens in area, one-fourth between 20 and 49 acres, 

 one-fourth between 50 and 174 acres, while the remainder were 175 

 acres in- more in extent in 1910. The latter one-fourth occupied seven- 

 eighths of the total area in farms. The average size of a farm was 

 317 acres, with an average value for land and buildings of $16,447. 

 The average value of live stock per farm was $1,447, and that of 

 implements and machinery was $414. 



Just as a man who has a mortgage on his farm needs a larger farm 

 than the man who owns a farm which is free from debt, so the renter 

 needs a larger farm than the man who owns his farm, because he must 

 not only make a living for his own family but also in part or in whole 

 a living for the family of the owner. Of the 88.000 farms in California 

 66,000, or alnmsi exactly three-fourths were operated by the owners, 

 is. uiii) by tenants, and between 3,000 and 4,000 by managers. In the 

 past 30 years there had been no material change in the proportion of 

 tenants to farm owners. 



The California farmer, for the most part, raises products worth 

 more than five cents a pound, or a produd such as fresh fruit that 

 has considerable water in it. If the farmers' finished product does 

 nol tall into one or the other of these classes he finds, or is apt to find, 

 eventually, either economic difficulties or soil depletion. The excep- 

 tions are so few that if a man is engaged in any other type of farming 

 he will do will to study his situation carefully. 



The average farm owner in California lives on a farm of 227 acres, 

 worth about $12.0()(). on which there is a mortgage of about $3,000. 

 The farm owner's equity in bis farm in 1910 was about $9,000. This 

 represents a satisfactory condition of affairs. The only way that the 

 average young man can secure title to a farm is by going in debt for 

 it. The fact that men have been continually going in debt for farms, 

 and through this process are becoming farm owners, is a most gratify- 

 ing fact. Now that the Homestead A.c1 is no longer a potent force in 

 enabling young men to become farm owners, the problem of land 

 settlement has assumed a serious aspect and one thai must lie faced 

 bravely, although its proper solution may look like .'i revolutionary 

 step to manj 



