20 BULLETIN 654, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The value of bouse rent, which is a direct contribution to the 

 family living by the farm, is determined by the value of the houses 

 found on the farms. The average value of the farm dwelling in 

 all size groups of farms from the smallest farms up to those of 80 

 acres is nearly the same, and the average for the 476 farms of 80 acres 

 or less is |944. On the larger farms the average value of the farm 

 dwelling is greater than this figure. Houses in southern Arizona 

 rent for about, 10 per cent of their value. This gives $94 as the 

 average value of the house rent contributed by the farm on the 476 

 farms under consideration. These computations are summarized 

 in Table V. 



Table V. — Average contribution of the farm to the living of the family and board of hind 

 labor on 476 irrigated farms in southern Arizona. 



Including hired labor, there were on an average 4 adult units on 

 these farms, making the contributions of the farm SSS.50 per person. 

 The farm family averaged the equivalent of 3.5 adult units, which 

 makes its share of the living obtained from the farm in round num- 

 bers S3 10. Adding this to the $588 of purchased food gives a living 

 requirement of $898 for food and house rent. This leaves other 

 items of living expenses such as fuel, clothing, doctor bills, news- 

 papers and periodicals, church and benevolent contributions, recrea- 

 tions and amusements, books, life insurance, and household furnish- 

 ings unprovided for. We have no data on these items for Arizona, 

 but if they should be estimated at $400, a very conservative estimate, 

 we have in round numbers $1,300 as the living requirement of an 

 average farm family in the irrigated valleys of southern Arizona, 

 of which the farm contributes $310 and the balance of $890 must 

 be purchased out of the farm income and the earnings of any mem- 

 bers of the farm family other than the operator, either upon the 

 farm or off, the value of such labor on the farm having been 

 charged against it as an expense in determining the farm income. 

 This estimate does not provide for the payment of any interest on 

 borrowed money, nor does it provide for the payment of the con- 

 struction charges on the irrigation projects in Salt River and Yuma 

 Valleys. Considering the fact that these charges will not be less 

 than $2.80 per acre annually for a period of 20 years in Salt River 

 Valley, and considerably more than this amount for the same period 

 of time in Yuma Valley, it appears from the foregoing figures that a 

 farm income of $1,000 above the food and house rent obtained from 



