THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



427 



Some currants on the Yellowstone federal irrigation project in Montana Courtesy 

 of Northern Pacific Railway. 



upon alfalfa, is 

 actually about 30 

 acres. This is per- 

 haps another way 

 of saying that 

 these families are 

 satisfied with a 

 gross income of 

 $2,000 per year. 



The one-family 

 farm just men- 

 tioned is a familiar 

 instance of the in- 

 fluence of family 

 c o - o p e r ation in 

 farming. Various 

 members of the 

 family help on 

 these farms. In 

 this way the labor 

 income is appar- 

 ently increased and 

 the expense of 

 conduct ing the 

 farm is decreased. 

 This, however, is merely because members of the 

 family are not paid for this labor at current rates. 

 Nevertheless, one of the important reasons for en- 

 gaging in certain types of farming is that it gives 

 rational and remunerative employment to the chil- 

 dren of the family. Farming remains the one great 

 industry where children are a material asset. A 

 man with a family of children may wisely 'engage 

 in dairying, fruit raising, or vegetable growing, not 

 only because he can use the labor of his children 

 to advantage, but because the training in contribut- 

 ing to the family income which they receive before 

 the age of twenty-one is one of the most valuable 

 assets these children can acquire. If the ideal of 

 a successful home is not a part of the program it 

 may be well to question whether some other 

 activity may not better engage attention. 



The gross return per acre depends, of course, 

 upon two factors yield and price. The size of the 

 farm required for a given gross return will depend, 

 therefore, not only upon the fertility of the soil, but 

 also upon the location. The latter materially affects 

 the price, especially in a state of great size with 

 many communities remote from the larger centers 

 of population. Nowhere, probably, is community 

 effort more important in securing satisfactory 

 prices than with the fruit raiser in California. No 

 matter how satisfactory the yield 'and quality of 

 the fruit may be, if the grower is not surrounded 

 by others raising a like commodity, usually it will 

 be found difficult to market the crop at a satisfac- 

 tory price. 



How may one estimate the value of land? All 

 that one can hope to do is to give an illustration 

 of a method. For this purpose, the dairy farm, pre- 

 viously mentioned, may be used. It was seen that 

 sixty acres may be sufficient to produce a gross 

 income of $4,000 per year where cows are kept on 

 land raising alfalfa by irrigation. According to 

 figures previously mentioned, this would represent 

 an investment of $16,000. This investment may be 

 roughly divided into four parts: (1) raw land, (2) 



water rights and 

 the preparation of 

 the land for irriga- 

 tion, (3) buildings, 

 (4) animals, tools, 

 and other floating 

 capital. The ani- 

 mals, tools, and 

 other floating capi- 

 tal may be esti- 

 mated at 25 per 

 cent of the total 

 investment, or $4,- 

 000. If the build- 

 ings are satisfac- 

 tory, they may 

 easily cost an ad- 

 ditional $4,000, 

 thus leaving $8,000 

 for the raw land, 

 for water rights 

 and the prepara- 

 tion for irrigation. 

 It is a matter to 

 be determined in 



each individual instance, but if the water rights 

 and preparation for irrigation are to cost $2,000 on 

 sixty acres, this would leave $6,000 which may be 

 paid for raw land, or $100 per acre. Obviously 

 if water rights and preparation for irrigation 

 cost $4,000, then only $80 per acre should be 

 paid for raw land. No one must assume that the 

 figures stated i-ecessarily apply to an individual 

 case. Each person must take the principle here 

 illustrated and determine what the figures should 

 be under his circumstances. 



It was estimated that twenty acres of land 

 planted to oranges might be required to return a 

 gross income of $4,000. According to the basis on 

 which we are working, this represents a capital of 

 $16,000, or $800 per acre. In this instance, prob- 

 ably $2,000 may be estimated for the buildings, 

 leaving $14,000 for land, water, and trees. Let it 

 be supposed that the water rights, including water 

 delivered to the highest point of the tract, cost $150 

 per acre, and the cost of bringing these trees to 

 the age of five years, including the purchase of the 

 trees, planting, cultivation, irrigation, fertilizers, 

 and taxes, is $350 per acre, then the situation would 

 stand as follows : 



Twenty-Acre Orchard 



Buildings $ 2,000.00 



Water rights 3,000.00 



Bringing orchard into bearing 7,000.00 



Value of raw land 4,000.00 



Total $16,000.00 



Under this estimate, raw land capable of being 

 irrigated and suitable for growing oranges, may be 

 estimated to be worth $200 per acre. It is not in- 

 tended to say that such raw land is worth $200 

 per acre. What is intended is to point out that in 

 finding the value of raw land one should determine 

 the cost of buildings, water rights, and the expense 

 of bringing the trees into bearing, and deduct these 

 items from the value of a bearing orchard. 



If a person owns a ranch that is profitable he 



