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of the danger of frost. Certain lands which are adapted to raising 

 olives are not worth, and in the past, have not been valued at more 

 than five dollars per acre for other types of farming, are now 

 valued and may be worth one hundred dollars per acre for olives. 

 The fact that lands are valued at much higher prices when adapted 

 to oranges, lemons, or alfalfa than when adapted to grains has led 

 to the placing upon the market of a great deal of land for crops to 

 which it is not adapted. The land is good enough when used for 

 the purpose to which it is adapted, but it is bad when an attempt is 

 made to use it for some other purpose. Certain areas may be very good 

 land when purchased at five dollars per acre for grazing purposes and 

 equally bad land when purchased at fifty dollars per acre for alfalfa, 

 or five hundred dollars per acre for oranges. Yet there are lands that 

 are good when purchased at five hundred dollars for oranges and 

 others that are good when purchased at fifty dollars for alfalfa. The 

 sale of land for purposes to which it is not adapted, and at prices 

 which its adaptation does not justify, has caused greater losses and 

 greater misery than any other thing connected with land settlement. 



The College of Agriculture has definite information concerning types of soil 

 and their adaptation for only a portion of the state. For such portions as are 

 known only statements concerning crop adaptations for the type in general can 

 be furnished. No assurance of economic returns can be made. Persons wishing 

 information with reference to any tract should state specifically the number of 

 the section and the quarter section to which reference is made. This informa- 

 tion is not for the purpose of passing upon the value of the particular tract 

 but for the purpose of determining to what soil type the tract belongs. 



PURCHASE OF LAND 



A person buying farm land in California seldom deals with the 

 owner. This is especially true where large tracts are subdivided and 

 sold to settlers. The owners of such tracts ordinarily place their 

 holdings in the hands of a real estate firm who, of course, handles the 

 sale on commission. But even the members of the real estate firm 

 seldom, in the case of these large holdings, make the sale in person. 

 The real estate firm employs agents of a more or less itinerant character 

 who make the actual sales. Under the present system, the agent 

 with whom the purchaser deals is not infrequently an irresponsible 

 party and cannot be found later to substantiate the statements made. 

 It is therefore absolutely necessary for the purchaser to act only on 

 evidence confirmed from ether sources and to sign no contracts that 

 he does not fully understand and cannot fully verify, and to be 

 absolutely certain his titles to the land and to the water rights are 

 satisfactory. 



