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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



STOCK 



Stock raising has always been a most 

 important source of income in the South- 

 west, especially sheep, which range in 

 vast flocks through many portions of 

 southern California, Arizona, and New 

 Mexico. In 1908-1909 New Mexico, 

 with about 4,200,000 head of sheep, ex- 

 ported 700,800 head and had a wool clip 

 of 18,000,000 pounds at 16 to 22 cents a 

 pound. 



Arizona estimates her sheep at 1,250,- 

 000 head. The first sheep, except those 

 in the Navajo herds, were swum across 

 the Colorado River at Needles, in 1876, 

 at the time of the great drought in south- 

 ern California. It costs about $1 a head 

 a year to keep and feed them, and they 

 pay 100 per cent profit under favorable 

 conditions. The estimate of cattle in 

 Arizona in 1907 was 342,837 head, val- 

 ued at $3,753406. 



OSTRICH 



The production of ostrich feathers has 

 long been an important industry in 

 southern California, and of late Arizona 

 has gone into the business with most 

 gratifying success. The beginning was 

 made in 1885, with an importation of a 

 few birds from California, and the in- 

 crease has been such that in 1908 nearly 

 2,000 chicks were hatched. The birds, 

 which now number 2,000, are in Salt 

 River Valley, near Phoenix, where they 

 appear to thrive as well as in their native 

 country. 



The birds are plucked every eight 

 months, and the full-grown birds yield a 

 pound of feathers to the plucking, worth 

 about $25. The annual cost of keeping 

 is about $10 a bird. Alfalfa is the prin- 

 cipal food. One acre of good stand will 

 support about five fuU-grov/n birds. The 

 ostrich needs care when first hatched, 

 but soon becomes very hardy. He ma- 

 tures in four years and is very long- 

 lived. The plucking of the ostrich is 

 'done after placing the bird in a small en- 

 closure and covering his head with a 

 liood like a stocking. The picker then 

 raises the wings and carefully clips ofif 



the mature feathers. The operation is 

 entirely painless, but care must be taken 

 to remove the dead stumps a couple of 

 months later. 



min£:rai, resource:s 



The principal ores of the Southwest 

 are copper, and in the production of this 

 metal Arizona leads the world. 



The copper mines of Arizona have had 

 marvelously large production, and while 

 much very rich ore has been mined the 

 deeper workings reveal an almost inex- 

 haustible supply of ore, which will yield 

 good profit unless the price of copper 

 tumbles much below its present low 

 stage. Copper constitutes about 90 per 

 cent of the $42,249,281 aggregate value 

 of mineral products from the territory 

 in 1908. 



The largest mines are at Bisbee, Globe, 

 and Morenci, in the eastern part of the 

 territory, and at Jerome, in the central 

 part. There are numerous small mines 

 and new deposits are reported occasion- 

 ally. The total production for 1908 was 

 291,584,080 pounds, valued at over $35,- 

 000,000. Of this the Bisbee district pro- 

 duced about 40 per cent, the Clifton- 

 Morenci district 27 per cent. Globe 12V2 

 per cent, and Jerome 12I/2 per cent, ap- 

 proximately. The United Verde mine at 

 Jerome is reported to have paid divi- 

 dends of $22,270,322 up to 1907. The 

 extent of some of the copper mines is in- 

 dicated by the fact that in the Copper 

 Queen mine at Bisbee there are 150 miles 

 of rails. Considerable gold is produced 

 in Arizona, amounting to 136,059 ounces 

 in 1908, valued at nearly $3,000,000; sil- 

 ver, 2,571,698 ounces; lead, 2,995,183 

 pounds, and zinc 2,457,099 pounds. 



New Mexico has large mining inter- 

 ests in gold, silver, and copper, there 

 being 134 mines working in 1908, with 

 total output of $1,529,091, of v/hich cop- 

 per was $806,867, silver $214,673, and 

 gold $298,757. 



New Mexico has very extensive de- 

 posits of coal. In the year i9o8-i909the 

 coal mines yielded over 3,000,000 tons, 

 having a value of $3,881,508, including 



