The Tomlin Box Factory is an electrically operated plant with a capacity of 62,500 feet of shook on one shift, and is now operating two shifts per day. It is also served by the Medford logging railroad.
    Jackson County has a total land area of about 1,815,000 acres; almost one-half of this area is covered with commercial timber as yet uncut. At the present time there are 25 sawmills of different types and capacities, most of them cutting only a few thousand feet per day.
    Traveling still further south one immediately plunges into a maze of packing plants, precooling and cold storage plants, ice manufacturing and car icing plant, and those industries which are more directly connected with the conditioning, packing and handling of the fruit crop each year, which amounts to approximately 2,100 car loads.
    Dehydration and canning are now taking an important place as byproducts of the fruit and vegetable production.
    A large part of what is raised must necessarily find its way to markets in cans. The Rogue River Valley Canning Company is a most important link in the chain which reaches from soil to consumer. The Knight Catsup Company has a plant which produces a commodity which is fast becoming famous, and which is taking the story of the Rogue River Valley to the outside world.
    All the big oil companies and many coastwide and nationally operated institutions have branches in this prosperous section of Southern Oregon, for it must not be forgotten that Jackson County leads Oregon, and the entire Northwest west of Minnesota, in percentage of increase of farm land values, the average price per acre of land and buildings, according to the U.S. Farm Census, showing an increase of 29.2% in 1925 over 1920.
    Continuing on to the California line one passes through the prosperous city of Ashland with its Southern Pacific railroad shops, its cannery, its iron works, its saw mills, box factory, and creamery, its Lithia Springs where both gas and water are bottled for shipment to all points of the coast, and its granite quarries which produce exceptionally fine monumental and building stone.
    Diversification is a sound principle in business and in finance. In Jackson County the agricultural industry is diversified so that no one group or product controls the destiny of the farm.
    There are specialists of course--and some are better adapted to one line of endeavor than others, but many lines are open to all and are to be found in successful operation. We refer to dairying, poultry raising, vegetables, stock raising and fruit growing.
    The marketing possibilities are diversified and the risks are minimized. The Southern Pacific railroad conveys products north and south to eastern rail and ocean steamer connections. The paved highways are open to motor truck transportation in every direction, and a large portion of local products find their way to the coast counties and to the Klamath country.
    A further diversity of industry is in the mineral field, for which Jackson County first attracted attention. Gold mining operations of every character have been conducted and are to be found in various stages of development--some operating, some discontinued, some preparing to reopen with modern methods and in keeping with practices which have made a success of similar operations elsewhere. Almost everywhere you go you will find some evidence of mining activity in copper, coal, gold, granite, oil shales and in other products from underground. There are some who predict that mining will be Jackson County's big industry when history's final chapters are written. At the present time it appears to be passing through that transition period when small high-grade operations must give way to the larger volume, lower grades, intensive mining operations.
    The raw material situation in every branch of industry minerals, timber and agriculture--is excellent. Capital is abundant and new groups representing outside financial circles are making big investments here. Labor supply is satisfactory, although at times there is a shortage of certain classes of labor due to the seasonal nature of some of the work. The general living conditions, however, in the Rogue River Valley are so agreeable, and it is such an attractive place in which to live, that labor contentment probably registers its highest standard on the farms and in the cities and towns of Jackson County. In the final analysis, industry to be successful must be based on labor contentment, and anything in the way of climate or living conditions which makes for contented labor reduces labor turnover, and thus cuts out one of industry's greatest losses.
    The tourist traffic, and all that must contribute to this growing feature of American life, has assumed the proportions of an outstanding industry in Jackson County. From the annual tourist crop, a certain percentage remains (or returns) as investors or as workers in the various industries of the Rogue River Valley, or as settlers. In this county irrigation is on a much more substantial footing than is reported from projects in other sections of the country.
Oregon Business, March 1926, pages 5-6


    Three things are necessary for the success of the livestock industry. These are abundance of feed, a mild climate, and good markets. The first two Jackson County has to an extent that probably excels any other section of the Northwest. The last mentioned, good markets, the county is undoubtedly equal and in some respects better situated than the majority of counties in this section. Plenty of water with which to irrigate, a long growing season, and mild winters make a combination of factors for successful livestock raising that many people are looking for, and if the truth were told, are not taken advantage of by present residents as fully as they might be.
    According to the 1920 census there were 25,000 head of beef cattle in Jackson County. This number has undoubtedly decreased since that time owing to low prices, until there is a slight shortage on the ranges. This, however, will tend to improve feeding conditions, and permanence of this industry depends on available grass. The livestock grower feels that his cost of production must be cut to the lowest possible point, and good grass is the most important item in turning off beef in the shortest possible time.
    The quality of local cattle is improving rapidly as range men are seeing the necessity of using good bulls.
    The dairy industry fits nicely into the farming scheme in Jackson County. With a fine quality and an abundant quantity of alfalfa hay, butterfat can be produced comparatively cheap. As corn does very well, silage and alfalfa hay make an ideal combination for dairy feeding. In fact, many herds are wintered on these feeds alone. In the cow testing association the butterfat averages run around thirty pounds per cow monthly, and while the association contains some of the best herds in the county, only about one-third fed anything but alfalfa and corn silage during the last winter. While it is recommended that some grain be fed, experience has shown what can be done without the higher priced concentrates. An average of thirty pounds of butterfat per month compares favorably with that of the best dairy sections.
    The 1920 census reported 3,765 cows in the county, and while this number has been materially increased during the last five years, there is still room for a 100% increase. With a surplus of alfalfa and a very high freight rate to get it on the market, the hay could be fed locally to the best advantage.
    The quality of dairy cows in use is very good. The Channel Island breeds predominate, with the Jerseys in the majority. Some of the best blood in the West is to be found in local herds, and the use of good sires is increasing rapidly. The health of all cattle is excellent, the last countywide test for tuberculosis showing but one-half of one percent reacting.
    Butterfat prices are based on the Portland price, and the manufacturing is handled largely by two plants at Medford, and one at Ashland.
    While the 1920 census reports 11,800 swine in the county, the low prices of the past three years have caused a large reduction in that number. At the present time there are not enough swine in the county to provide enough pork for home consumption. During the present season with higher prices being offered, there is again a growing demand for feeders and breeding stock. With a bumper grain crop during this season farmers needed feeder hogs to run in the stubble fields, and they were not to be had.
    The production of swine is not recommended as a major industry, but it is recommended that every farm should carry enough hogs for the utilization of waste products or on the basis of one hog for every dairy cow, and one pig for every five to ten acres of grain.
    Marketing of surplus stock has been done cooperatively in a very successful manner through the Farm Bureau Exchange. While there has not been enough hogs to do this in a large way, there has always been a number disposed of in this manner.
    The quality of local swine is excellent, and it is safe to say that 90% of all swine in Jackson County is purebred or from purebred foundations.
    The sheep industry has been largely a range proposition, and the last census shows 20,000 head in the county. More farm flocks are recommended, as the keeping of a few head of good sheep by ranchmen has been found quite profitable when not overdone. The quality of the lambs marketed can be greatly improved by the use of better rams and attention to details such as docking and early castration.
    In keeping with the general expansion of the poultry industry of the Northwest, Jackson County has made a rapid advance in the past five years. Suffering less from general deflation in farm products, it has attracted more people to enter the business and many failures have resulted. The attention to details necessary to success in this industry is lacking in many people. The climatic conditions of this county are very favorable to the commercial raising of poultry. Mild winters make housing problems simple and the production of green feed necessary to egg production in the winter time is a minor problem.
    Marketing has been pretty well handled in the past through local cooperative egg associations, but the growth of the industry means greater expansion as local needs are being well supplied. A large territory adjacent to the county has been open to the egg producer, but as the industry grows further markets will have to be sought.