Back to the Farm Movement by J.C. Forker Chairman State Irrigation Commission Fresno

8/14/2019 Back to the Farm Movement by J.C. Forker Chairman State Irrigation Commission Fresno

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Tke Real,taBLueBook ol Cal,ifornia


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TheNew "Back o the Farm" MovementBy J. C. FoR(NER

E{o I! HonLesteacLiw-Collapse of "Back to the Fan,"Mouement--Financid Bul.dzns a Drdxrback-Citg M6n and,C(tuntra Ma,n---Cities dnil CoLmtry Merging-The Rubber-Tired, Frlmret.

HE distribution of the peopieson this earth takes place, princi-pally, becauseof two reasons. !'irst, the desire for a morebountiful supply of food, better economicconditions and betterl iving condil ions. Second,el igiousand poli l ical ibedJ.These Uniied States were sraned by thos" sieking greaterreligious and political fr-eedom. But, by far, a greater number ofpeoplecame to this country seeking better food and shelter condiiions.EARLYHOMESTDADINC

As the country grew denser in population people pushed fadhrwest, seeking betier economicconditions, ald for more than 150 yalsin these United States, those who found living conditions becominga little harder and a little more cramped would push out for cheaperland and greater freedom.Soldiers of the Civil War, a-fter having experienced our yars ofoutdoor living and {reedom from the restraint of a highly organizdsociety,went west and populated the Mississippi Vatley, dudng theyears between 1865 and 1890. By 1900 the frontier in the U;itedStates had been completely wiped out.coLLApsDoF,,BACI(-To-LAND,,MoWMENT

It was fteely prophesied that immediately after the Great Warthere would b a repetit ion of a "back to the la[d" movement by the2,000,000soldiers who had experienced the treedon of outdoor life.The 2,000,000 soldiers were discharged nearly six yeals ago.Ihere is no doubt but that in their hearts there was iust as muihlonging oi" possession l land and the frpedomof outdoor I i fe analdesire o pioDeel and to build homes for thernselvesas ever existeal nthe hearts of ary soldiers. But we all know there was no ,, back tothe land" movement, and we all Lnow the reason why. The govern-ment ]tas no land, the states have no land. The United Stats has noland policy, and thre is Dot a srngle state in t}le United States thathas a working land poiicy todan tlat will take care of any appreciablenumber of those who v,'ant to go upon the land.In 1903 Roosevelt, then President, recognizing that the frontierhad gone, tried to cleate a rew frontier, and so hid passedthe Rec-

The Rea.ltABlue Boolr of Calilornir


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254 Tke Reakv BIue Book oJCal,ifornialarnationAct. This act has beeD n existence or twenty years,butit has not createda new frontier. A Facts Findins Commission strying now to find out if ir can suggestcomelhing h;r wjll malp thislaw do what PresidentRoosevelt oped t would do.

I'INANCIAL BIMDEN A DRAWBACKSo, here we are today, in the United States, vrith 110,000,000men,womenand chi ldren, ncreasing r rhp rsrc ot 2.000.000nnually; ourlront ipr al l gpnc and our land valuesadvancing t a lremendous aie.. . A y9!ng man becompsof age somewherp n these United Slates,during.thisyear o.[our Lord, 1924. nd l-here re a mil l ion ) oung menwho vrill becotDeof age this year ard every year from now on inlheseUnited States of America. The time has come for this young man tostr jhe out for himself . We wil l sa) lhat his incl inarion s t ;becomer farmer. He lovps he soil . he lovFs o work out of doors,he lovesnaturc. We wil l sa:r his.\oung man is srout and strong and healthy,\r. i th le averageedu.at iun hat thp jr lpfageyoungm, n of rhis nar onhas-al Lwenty-onc ear. ol agp: thal he is tbp \crl t lTe this nat;onDeeds.uponhe soi l . He goes nto l l l inois. qeckjnga farm and f indsrnal the average arm, wilh i l" equipment,n that srarpw;l l cost him$28.108.00.These gures arp from rhe Il20 census. He goeson outto Kansas and he finds the average farm with its equipm;nt, in that!9t9,.I-l corsi him 919,982.00; in Nebraska, $BBld.oO; in rowa,$39,941.00.-So. he young man says, .. I will go west; I will go to Cati-fornia and I will get me a farm there.,, When he gets to California hefinds that the _av-eragearm in this state, togethetwith its equipment,will cost him $29.158.00.He fnds lhar it wi l l takp an equrpmenr f 92,000,00o $5.000.00to become good enter oI a farm in any ol lhaseslales,, . W}t iclcver way this young man might turn. hp sees lmosra sol idwar agarrNt nts becomrnqa tarmer.

_ .But, upon the olher f ,and. he road s $idp. the pavement moolhfor him lo r ide in io the city. For rhe. i ly is cver beckotr jne im !ocome. The city says to him: Come on in. I will gi\le you tjob anda nice place to live." Th buildels anal financiers-of ti.re cit5i sly 16him. ._"If y_ori_canmanage to save a few alollarsas a do*n;a],rne"t,we will build for you a nice home and ffnance it so that a s;;ll sumlrom your monlhly pay checkwil l pay lor Jour home. We wil l pxtendtbesepa}'nenls over f i f teenor moj-e ears.. '. In the city his job is prepared or him. his homp s f inanced orhrm. l l rsa ten-to-ope el that thp avFragpman wil l lo l low the l inesof lesst resistance and will ride into the crw.. -So. his is.how lhe cjt ies of loday are being buil t . I t is a hun-orP(lumes easrFr or the young n,an to gc1 nto the city and l ive andhavesheltFr han.i l is to gpt into rhts ountrt and get thc same ivingano lnP sameEhetter.

AUTOMOBILEHANCESIVINCCONDTTIONSThis condition is dark and foreboding for our republic. However,lhFre s a new siruct lonarisirrg n thpseanitpd Stares, nd at preient.nowhereel6e n the world. This newcondil ion s bpins broustt aboutby the automobile. It sends a shatt ot tjshl into the alartneis


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The Realtv Bhrc Book ol Ca for.tLit, 259From the beginningof time until the automobile ame nto com-monuse,and evenon up to the beginningof the year 1924, here wasalways a distinct line of demarcation between the city man ard thEven vrhen he electricstreet car and th rapid steam nterurbantrains came, they only changed the living quarters of the city man.IIe still remained wholll a city man.In early daysa city of 1,000,000opulationwouldoccupya spaceonly a few miles square. Steam and electdc tmnsportation onlyspread he city over grater terdtory but did not change he line ofdemarcation between the city msn and the country man. Where thestreetcar ended he city endedand the country began. Even today,with the fastest transportationdevised y civilization, he populationof our cities will run from 25 to 100 o the aire and in someof the

mostcongesied istricts will run in excess f 1000 o the acre. Evenhere n Fresno,a country town, the population uns about 15 to theCITY MAN AND COUNTRY MAN

The automobile is changing this line of demarcation betwen thecity man and he country man. It is lroducing a type of lumar beingwhoneverxistedupon he faceof the earth before. This new humanbeing s neither wholly country man nor wholly city man. IIe livesne i {he rn tha .oun r ryno r in rhe . i l y . Ha i s bo thbu t bc longsoneithpr. I would not call him a tired farmer. nor a retired larmer.but rather, I wouldcall him a RubberTired Farmer.fn a few more yeals no onewill be able to tell where any city endsand the country begins. The cily peopleare finding l"hal they canhavea homp,even he averageci[y man, n the country on an acre,h{o acresor five acres of land, that he can live in that homeard workat lis trade or business r professionn the city, that he can run thathomeas successfully s he can run a town lot. He is ffnding out,lapidly, that he can i.aise his chickens in the $eat out-of-doors, thathe can have vegetables and chickens and their products and ftuits inFofxsion, and that al l these hings supplement is eaming capacityiD the city. He has found out that life holds out to him a richerfulfillment, he has found life and joy in greater abundsnce or his

wife, his children and himslf. A new order of society has cominto sxistence and very few peolle realize it. It has been so suddenandquietarclxnexpected.So, his is the ne$r' umanbeing of today,the man who is not a city man, lvho is not a country man. He is inthe fullest senseof the word, a Rubber Tireal Far-rner,a man wholivesbetween the city and the counhy,CITIES AND COUNTRY MMGINCAt the present time every city in tle United States is brakingover ts boundaxies. hstead oJ housesbeing upon a ciiy lot andoccupyinga small spaceall cities of the future will spread miles in

ever.f irection. There will be three kinds of people: hosewho livein apartment housesard hotels, those who live uponLittle Farms, whoare Rubber Tired Farmers, and those who live in the country andmaketheir living wholly and enti&ly from cultivating the soil.I hdve found durilg the last four years this chsng in ihe minds


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260 The Red.LtABlue Book of Cdilornlrt

EXPERIENCE OF AI]THORSALES PAST FOUB YEARS

RUBBER TIRED IARMS OF ONE ACRENumber t buye rs . . . . . . .Numberof acres ......

of both city and country mn. If you will pardon me I will give yousomeof-m) peNonalexpprience, howingyou the possibi l i t ie iot ihefuture deve]opmeDr ith rhis tJpe ol Rubbpr Tirad Farmer I haveiust attemDted to descdbe._ Abour four years ago I put on a subdivision djoining he city ofrTesno.4i ' i0 ne-acre ract! . plantpd10 f igs. l i was my idea t $ouldtak. me one or t lvo yerrs to sell rhis. I bel ieved here would be alew poplewho dsire to live out on an acre of land, instad of livingin the city. In less than four months after putting this subdivisioion the market I had sold all of it to Fresno people,ahounting to morethan S600,000.00. he bu\ers were businessmpn, Iawrersl docLors.larmprs. Men and womenwho havebuil t and arc building houqps ocost Jrom 95,000.00 o 950,000.00. This showed me the hu-morof thepeople.. It dawned upon my mind that the automobile anil goocl .oaalswere distr ibut ing Ihp peopleancw. From {hat r ime to l ; ,s I havebcencateringenlirely ro lhe RubberTired Farmel.

492581Total slling price of oDe-acresales,,.. ..._. .. .g?0?,500.00Avemge se_lling rice per acre .. I,217.29Average sell ingpr ice per person ... . . . . . . . . , . . 1,48g.00

TWOAND ONE-IIAi,FACEESNumber of buyers ,....... E2Numbr of acres ,... .. 1A0Total selling.price of 2|r-acre sates ...- $44,850.00Average selling price per acre 845.00Average selling price per person g62.50

FIVE ACRESNumber of buj ers ..Number of acres .. . . . . . -Total selling price of 5-acre sales .. S819,82b.00AveragA selling pricc per acre .. 492.04Averagp purchase rrce ppr person ... . . . . . . 2.460.20

130650

SEVENAND ONF-HALF ACRESNumber of acresNumberof buyers ... . . . . 30226Totai sellingprice of ?r72-acrealesAverageselling price per a.re -..... 396.182,971.35verage purchase pdce per pelson


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The Eeal,tu BIueBook of Caklornia 261TEN ACRDSAND OI.ERNumber oi buyers .. . . . . .Number o l a c r e s . . .

Sellrngpri(p of landAverage selling pr:ce per acreAveragesell ingpri.e per personAverrge acreagp per person

1363

Selling price of landNumber of acres soldAverage sellng price per acreAverage selling price per.personAverageRubberTired Farm

SUMMARY

$776,117.00569-428,001.2114.05

q012949656.9?2,418.773.68acres.

$1,937,432.00Numberof buyers -.. . .-. . .-. .

THE RUBBER-TIRED'ABMERWhere do I find this new type of man? I find him iD the citv. acity man. and | f ind him in the country. amongcoun(ry men. Tlierersa vasl numberof country men who do no{ wanl. o work big farms.They want a little farln close to a city, they want th advaniages ofbetter schools, better churches, better stores, better mads and hish-wals, bel lej" social rondil :ons. I 6nd many buyero among the clymcn who $ anr to get away from congpstad istf icls oI the . i iy and geLinto he opencounlry where thpy can haveprivac). the scarcesl hingin a city-where they can see the clouds, the skies. and feel the winAsgainst heir faces; where their chi ldreDcan run and DIavwith free-dom: where thc f lruit . vegetables nd eggs that appeai upon rheirlableshave not passed hrough Ihe gmsping handsot a t ini of com-mlssionmcrchants.brokers, nDdpeddlers,nor been ainred bv darkard smelly rooms of cold storage. The automobile has m;de itpo$ible for this condition to come about and has actuallv created anabsoluipl j new lype ol human being. Th;s t l 'pe nevei exisled inEuropeand i l is not exisi ing therp today. I t does nor exis l in anvo t h e r o u n t r y n r h e w o r l d a nd c a n n o lp x i s r i r a n ) o l h e r . c u u n r r yntheworld unLil he aulomobiles,n grca[ numbers. re jntroducpdlnlo

_ The|e are 14.0U0.000 ulomobiles jr rhe United Srai.s roday.. thatmeanr here s an automobile or every eighl people. TherF wil lbe n the next few years, 28,000,000automobites n th; United Statesof Ajne-rica.- In my judgment, this will eventually cause more thanone-half f the people n the United States o bdome RubberTred! 'armels. T would nor be surpr ' isedf in lhe futurp thF RubberTiredtarmer wouldbecome. ot thc backbone l Ihe country.but the brain,blood, bowels and sinew.This Rubber Tired Falmer is subject to fewer economicdiseases.derives his income both from industrialism and from the soil.,n necessityorceshim, during stdkes, our Ruibber ird Farmerwithdraw to his little country homeand live without feelingtheinch -of poverty- He will forver banish the fear of otd sge a;d n;ob. When farm commodities are chesp and the all year isrmer is


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262 TheReal,tlJ IueBookol Calilornia-g?oaning, he Rubbel Tired Farmer will not be hurt, becausehe rdllbe drawing mone]. from industrialism_In these United States of Amelica r(,eare lapidly evolvins iDto anew disl burion of the peopte. Ev-ry ci ly and io*n witt e* ierl"n""lh.s developmpnl. Bui. mJ ir iends. Calt forntaoffers jhe grealeslopporluni l i ol anJ placF n the whole world to develop he RubberTired Farm.r to the highcsl dpgree. Tt is b.cause oi " ; ;" f i ;J;ondrrron. eaause l our irr iggt ion. I venture 1o say that i f every.r_y.1o\r ancl t t , j rgp n lhe .tatp o{ Cali forrr ia$ ouid sLarl mmediaredvelopment lor the Rubber Tired Falmer., rut *" "oofJ in"r:"r""thF J)opuhLion I ccl i tornis 1.000,000 .ople *jthort de;" lo; ins;; ;addlt ional ^aler whalever. We would only have o distr ibuie t in;slightly diferent wav.

. ! t""1 hlyg in the pasl been inventionsand discoveries n Lhema&rngoI vrhr.h socie lyhas sudd"nly eapedupward to a newFrandn.gner ptanpot cxisten.e, The harnessingol stpam power effectpdmighty chang"s ard Flecrr icdevetopment-is "" . ." ing if ," l" lors"oiman ano vroi l larr -nctnaktng iJemoreagreeablp, Bul, he aulornobilp13grvrng efl-ecLo tong penl up desires or a bettel and nobler li fe hereon parth. No temjty in lhe lururc $i l l be compplledo l;vp n cramDedquartprsamidst the debrisof manulacruringetantsana tl . noiseoiboiler factories.


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Documents

Back to the Farm Movement by J.C. Forker Chairman State Irrigation Commission Fresno