Uncovering the Hidden Legacy of J.G. Boswell: How One Man Built a Secret Empire in California

Maire: Wonderful book and history, highly recommend it.

United States on Oct 17, 2023

Genesis Press: The book is well-researched, with some very interesting details about the rise of the Boswell cotton farming operation. But unfortunately, the book is also littered with multiple stabs at blaming the Boswell company for everything from high unemployment to closed businesses in the town of Corcoran, Calif. For example, on p. 414: "Nearly one out of four residents in Kings County lived in poverty, and the jobless rate in Corcoran had been stuck at 16 percent for more than a decade."

Well, the truth is that the high unemployment rate in Corcoran mirrors that of most of California's Central Valley: Corcoran and Kings County is very much like Fresno and Tulare counties when it comes to joblessness. The agriculture business has traditionally been seasonal, so there are periods of unemployment during the year. Variable weather conditions can also impact jobs.

Authors Arax and Wartzman also rail against Boswell and other big growers for accepting subsidies from the federal government, but even they point out that Boswell was opposed to subsidies and was in favor of a free market economy. The authors also quote a Corcoran resident who laments the loss of businesses and refers...

United States on Aug 24, 2023

MicroCapClub: I've written about JG Boswell (BWEL) a couple of times here on MicroCapClub, but I finally finished reading the only book that gives a detailed history of the company and man behind it. JG Boswell is known as the country's largest farm (150,000 acres), which is located in California. The intrigue with the company isn't in the size of the farm, but how it got so large in the first place.

The farm itself is on an old lake bottom, what used to be Tulare Lake. 100 years ago this lake was the largest lake (600 sq miles) west of the Mississippi River, and it was drained dry by farming. The farm to this day continues to tap 15% of the river system/aquifer as irrigation. The true value of the farm even today isn't really the abundance of crops that are produced but in these water rights that are thought to be worth $10's of billions.

The company was started in 1921 by J.G. Boswell, and later run by J.G. Boswell II who is credited for the company's growth from 1952-1984 (died 2009). JG Boswell II was a very intelligent and influential businessman who even served on the board at General Electric (GE) when Jack Welch was CEO. Welch said of Boswell, "A very independent outside...

United States on Apr 10, 2013

Philip Carl: This particular chapter details the rise of a farming empire in California's Central Valley. Coming from Greene County Georgia, the Boswell family built this empire largely on the backs of migrant labor and water--lots and lots of water. One other point: on the way to becoming one of the largest landowners in California, the Boswell's forever reshaped the landscape and drained Tulare Lake.

Prior to settlement, the Central Valley's river floodplain system nourished some 1.4 million acres of tule marshes and wooded wetlands. The draining of vast sweeps of wetlands along with the damming and channeling of four major rivers has altered the landscape in both a manner and at a scale that is, quite literally, unprecedented. If you wanted to focus on a single family/farming empire that played the biggest role in this alternation, then you could do no better than The King of California.

Tulare Lake lies near the southern end of California's Central Valley. The proximity of such a huge, seasonal lake to a large farming operation was a mixed blessing. During dry years, as the shoreline contracted, the land could be transformed to grow grain or row crops. In wet years, however,...

United States on May 03, 2008