15 



the area required for a given gross income. Assume an average annual 

 yield of five tons of alfalfa per acre at eight dollars per ton. There 

 would be required 100 acres to produce an income of $4000. It has 

 been shown previously that an alfalfa ranch of sixty acres carrying 

 forty cows may give an equal gross income. Thus in the same way 

 the rearing of cattle, sheep, horses or hogs may considerably modify 

 the area required.* 



SALE OF LAND 



If a person owns a ranch that is profitable he is not generally 

 anxious to sell it. If a man owns a herd of cows and desires to sell 

 some of them he will, if he is a good business man, seek to sell his 

 poorest cows. Lands follow the same economic law. The ranches that 

 come upon the market are apt to be those that have for some economic 

 cause become unprofitable. This may, of course, be due to several 

 reasons. It may be that it is not possible to compete with other lands 

 of greater fertility. It may be that the growth of cities and the 

 development of transportation have made it no longer capable of com- 

 peting with other areas. It may be due to mismanagement. It may 

 be that changing conditions have made the area too large and that it 

 needs subdivision. However, thoroughly desirable areas may be placed 

 upon the market for various reasons, as through the settling of estates. 

 Frequently splendid areas are brought into the market through the 

 development of new water supplies. 



It is a characteristic of California conditions that its soils are what 

 is called " spotted." There may be very poor areas surrounded by 

 land of great fertility. Men who make it a business to buy and sub- 



* Professor Bioletti comments on this paragraph as follows: "Our fruit production seems 

 to show a tendency to get into the hands of men with limited capital capital too limited to 

 fully develop an orchard of sufficient size to supply the needs of a moderate family. For 

 such cases, it seems to me desirable that the grower should diversify his crops in two ways, 

 first in order to supply his family with as large proportion of their food consumption as 

 possible, and secondly to utilize his own and his family's labor in the harvesting of the crops. 

 Probably at least half of the living expenses of a family can be supplied by the milk, eggs, 

 vegetables, fruit, etc., raised on the place. It would be impossible for any ordinary farmer 

 to harvest a crop of an orchard consisting of one variety of fruit, if this orchard were large 

 enough to support the family and to supply them with employment during the main part of 

 the year. The following is an example of what might be a good choice of diversified crops 

 for a thirty-acre orchard in the central portion of the Interior Valley: 



5 acres Apricots for drying July 115 harvest 10 days 



5 acres Peaches for drying July 15-30 " 10 " 



5 acres Sultanina raisins Sept. 115 . 10 



10 acres Muscat raisins Sept. 15-30 " 10 " 



Border trees 

 1 acre trees Figs for drying Aug.-Sept. " 5 " 



1 acre trees Olives for pickling Oct.-Nov. " 5 " 



2 acres Alfalfa. 



1 acre Buildings and garden. 



30 acres 50 days 



