December 28, 1007 



HORTICULTURE 



846- 



ShaU You ^^Go West ^7 



The eastern farmer is, as a rule, very eii\ioxis of the 

 western rancher. He hears reports of the vast farms, 

 fine fields, great herds, innumerable flocks and record 

 crops of fruit and grain. But a man wants to think- 

 well before he pulls up stakes and starts West. 



In the first place the eastern grower has a market. 

 Numberless towns and cities furnish opportunities for 

 the disposal of his crops, generally right at his door. 

 He can raise a small quantity of some fruit or vegeta- 

 ble for which there is a demand with an outlay of 

 little capital and then get it to market with hardly any 

 expense for freight and so forth. The West has very 

 poor markets as a rule. Only the large cities are to 

 be depended upon. Being an agricultural country each 

 house has its little garden plot and keeps its own hens 

 so that only a limited market is created. If the 

 farmer's products are shipped to the cities he has high 

 freight or express charges, and must pay the various 

 items of spoiling, icing, storing, commissions, etc., 

 which make a big inroad on his profits. And when 

 his market is finally reached he fijids himself in a com- 



T.vpical California Ranch Buililii.6^. 



petition with specialists who can turn out a fine product 

 at a minimum cost. For instance, in California the 

 city of San Francisco is the distributing point for the 

 whole State (perhaps somewhat less so since the fire) 

 and the bulk of the ranch products are shipped there 

 to be redistributed over the whole country. It some- 

 times happens that a roll of butter or a dozen of eggs 

 will leave a town, go to 'Frisco and be shipped right 

 back again for local consumj^tion, from some commis- 

 sion liouse. And in "the city" are A No. 1 things, 

 grown by successful men on the best soil. These the 

 small farmer must come in competition with. 



This doesn't mean that there is a lack of opportuni- 

 ties. There is an unlimited field for the man with cap- 

 ital, but to be successful he must spell his money with 

 capitals. In a land where there are ranches of sixty 

 thousand acres, quite a number of twenty thousand and 

 a host of two or three thousand each, all turning out 

 vast crops, the little man is likely to get snowed under. 

 The only plan for the easterner to follow out West is 

 to oTow one crop and grow it well. He cannot afford 

 to spend time and money on the dozens of schemes he 



►-* 



A T.vpicil California Agricultural Town. 



wastes valuable effort on at home. If he gets into a 

 fruit country it must be grapes, peaches, prunes, pears 

 or the particular crops for which the land and section' 

 is suited. If in an agricultural region it must be 

 horses, cattle, sheep, grass or grain and nothing else. 

 Of course there are lots of examples of men who are 

 earning a comfortable living from a few acres of 

 raisins, olives, figs, oranges, almonds and the like, but 

 the men are those familiar with the country, who have 

 gained their comfortable places through persistent, 

 effort aided by a knowledge of the field. 



The second thing the rancher has to contend with is- 

 the labor problem. If this is serious in the East it is 

 ten times more so in the West. There is such a lack of 

 good men that various organizations have been formed 

 with the express purpose of exploiting the country and 

 getting more men. Mexicans, Indians, Japs and 

 Chinamen are fairly good cheap labor but there is a 

 dearth of them. In this connection I may say that 

 for the anxious worker, whether or not conversant with 

 farm life, who is willing to start in under somebody 

 and work up, there are plenty of good chances. Fore- 

 men and superintendents are scarce articles. It is well 

 to have a place in view, however, before starting in on 

 any very extended journey. 



But after all is said and done the West is a great 

 country. When one has obtained a foothold the soil 

 and climate in the favored sections make life well worth 

 the living. 



I am aware of the discontent of the easterner. The 

 vivid pictures of western life have made him restless 

 and he longs to start for "the land of the setting sun." 



A California Residence. 



