45 



equipment, and interest on investment. The cost of producing the thirty-sack 

 crop on the fallowed land is about three-fourths the cost of producing two 

 fifteen-sack crops, so that the net returns will be somewhat greater. 



With methods of handling at present in vogue, barley farming, in order to 

 be profitable must be conducted on relatively low-priced land. Profitable 

 returns cannot be obtained on land 'which exceeds $75 to $85 per acre in value 

 except when grown in rotation with other crops. 



The usual basis for renting grain lands is on shares, the owner requiring 

 one-fourth to one-third of the crop. This means that normally eight to ten 

 sacks must cover the cost of production and besides leave something to the 

 farmer for his trouble. 



Grain farming has some advantages and some distinct disadvantages. In 

 the first place, it is a type of farming which requires a minimum of labor and only 

 a comparatively small outlay for equipment; the only time help is required is 

 during seeding and harvesting. 'The labor available is largely of the transient 

 type, which can be obtained for from $2.25 to $3 per day. On the other hand, 

 with grain as the dominant feature, the equipment must necessarily lie idle 

 the greater portion of the year, so that its total cost must be charged against 

 the grain crop. Then, too, constant cropping to grain is not a commendable 

 practice, inasmuch as the continuous shallow cultivation greatly impairs the 

 physical condition of the soil, so that the farmer must continually put forth 

 greater effort to maintain his yields. It is the type of farming, however, 

 which is, as a rule, practiced on new land, as it requires but little capital at 

 the start. 



There is still considerable undeveloped land suitable for this type of farming 

 available in the foothill regions of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin valleys, 

 as well as in some of the smaller and more isolated valleys of the state, 

 which can be purchased for $40 to $60 per acre. In the developed sections, 

 on the other hand, there is but little land that can be purcnased for less than 

 $100 an acre. 



BEAN CULTURE 

 By JOHN W. GILMORE, Professor of Agronomy 



Bean culture in California may be considered under two heads, namely, field 

 bean culture and Lima bean culture. While the soils and culture methods for 

 these two types of beans are similar, they differ materially in respect to their 

 requirements for temperature and moisture, including humidity. 



Lima Beans. Mainly because of this difference the Lima bean is most 

 extensively produced iii-the counties along the coast, including San Diego, 

 Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo. In these 

 counties the valley soils are deep and strong, and the peculiar requisite moisture 

 conditions are afforded by frequent fogs from the ocean. The summer temper- 

 ature in these bean sections is tempered especially in respect to its uniformity 

 by ocean winds. This industry may be most profitably investigated in the 

 vicinity of Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and Oxnard. 

 In California the climatic conditions are more important as a limiting factor 

 in the production of Lima beans than the soil, except in cases where the soil 

 is unsuitable because of an alkali or an acid condition. 



