36 THREE ACRES AND LIBERTY 



allows this, for he says that ' sundries become greater as in- 

 come increases.'" 



We have already abundance of information about almost 

 every county in the Union, published by Boards of Trade 

 and land boomers, like the following about " Oxnard, Ventura 

 County, the center of the famous lima bean district in Cali- 

 fornia. For a year the returns from farm products alone, 

 in this vicinity, are estimated at over $2,000,000. The sugar 

 factory, which uses 2000 tons of beets every twenty-four 

 hours, requires the yield of about 1900 acres every season. 

 The beet crop is rotated with beans, and the factory's supply 

 is kept good by systematic methods. Two thousand head 

 of cattle are being fattened at the present time in the com- 

 pany's yard on the beet pulp. Much of the pulp is also 

 sold to local stockmen, who value it highly for feed. The 

 factory turns out 5000 bags of sugar every day." And 

 again : 



"Eastern farm lands steadily declined in price up to 

 about 1902, so that Eastern land sold for less than Western 

 land of the same quality and of like situation ; but the tide 

 seems at last to have turned, and much money is now being 

 made in buying up cheap farms and especially in sub-dividing 

 them for small cultivators." 



That sort of thing is interesting ; but it is not what a man 

 wants to know he is anxious to learn how much he can 

 make and where and how to do it. 



The man who seeks a comfortable living will do better 

 to rent on long lease or buy a few acres convenient to trolley 

 or railroad communication with a city ; besides the returns 

 which will come to the farmer from the use of a few acres, 

 if he is the owner he will get a constant increase in the value 

 of the land, due to the growth of the city. If the city grows 



