FARM ORGANIZATION IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA. 



31 



being in a class by themselves and not comparable with ordinary- 

 farms. Other dairy breeds are represented by breeders in the val- 

 leys, but the numbers of such live stock are far below those of the 

 Holstein breed. Shorthorn cattle, with a preference for the dairy 

 type, rank next in popularity to the Holsteins. These two breeds 

 are preferred because their steer calves develop rapidly on alfalfa 

 forage and purchasers of fat cattle in Arizona make no discrimina- 

 tion against them, contrary to the custom with most dairy breeds. 

 Owners of shorthorn cows are at present breeding them to Holstein 

 bulls, indicating a strong preference in southern Arizona for the 

 black and white dairy cattle. In Salt River Valley, especially, there 

 are a large number of fine graded Holstein dairy live stock, and such 

 cities as Tucson, Bisbee, Douglas, and El Paso are turning to this 

 valley for their supply of dairy cows. Prices of such cattle are no 

 higher in Arizona than in eastern dairy States, and with a little 

 attention to advertising and a little more care in breeding Salt River 

 Valley should soon be known as a home of good dairy live stock and 

 attract buyers from the outside. An outlet would thus be found for 

 young dairy cattle when the present expansion of the dairy enter- 

 prise has reached its limits. 



The importance of the dairy enterprise in the farm organization 

 may be indicated by classifying all farms studied in the order of 

 increasing percentage of receipts from dairying. Such a classifica- 

 tion is presented in Table XIII. 



Table XIII. — Effect cf increasing percentage cf receipts from dairying upon success in 

 farming in the irrigated valleys of southern Arizona 1913 to 1915. 



Percentage Teccipts from dairy- 

 ing. 



Average 

 per cent 

 receipts 



from 

 dairying. 



Number 

 "of farms. 



Average 

 area. 



Number 

 failing to 

 make 8 

 per cent. 



Average 

 total re- 

 ceipts. 



Average 

 farm in- 

 come. 



Average 

 labor in- 

 come. 



0to5 



1.4 

 13.2 

 34.2 



54.1 

 79.6 



195 

 145 

 94 

 97 

 96 



Acres. 

 141 

 102 

 85 

 79 

 73 



60 

 45 

 22 

 18 

 16 



$5, 508 

 3,633 

 3,453 

 3,423 

 3,688 



$2, 768 

 2,316 

 2,182 

 2,300 

 2,450 





5. 1 to 25 



596 



25. 1 to 45 : . . . 



13 



45.1 to 65 



45 





993 







Out of receipts totaling $2,913,877, dairy cattle and dairy prod- 

 ucts contributed $724,740, or 24.9 per cent. The sales of dairy 

 cattle were $266,543 and the purchases $190,240, leaving net sales of 

 $76,303. This indicates large buyhig and selling locally, and also 

 indicates that when dairying has reached the limit of its possible 

 expansion dairy cattle will have to find an outlet beyond the dis- 

 tricts in which they are produced or will have to be sold for beef. 

 The latter alternative will lower prices considerably and make the 

 enterprise less profitable. However, the present large type of dairy 

 cows being produced can easily be sold at from $65 to $75 each for 



