22 BULLETIN 1421, U. 8. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
147 and 195 per cent higher than the 1910-1914 average, respectively, 
for barley and wheat. Hence the slump in the hog enterprise in 1917. 
Sheep.—A campaign conducted in southern Idaho from 1913 to 
1916 to increase farm flocks of sheep is doubtless responsible for 
much of the increase in the number per 100 acres during 1915 and 
1916. However, many farmers, inexperienced in the management 
of sheep, undertook the enterprise on too large a scale and were more 
or less unsuccessful. Because of this disadvantage and the excep- 
tionally attractive prices of crops, there was a shift from sheep to 
cash-crop farming. Figure 15 shows a continuous decrease in sheep 
from 1916 to 1922, an increase in 1923, and a slight decrease again 
in 1924. 
Sheep are excellent scavengers. They glean the fields after the 
crops are harvested, and much of the feed consumed is waste material. 
When the size of the flock is properly adjusted to the needs of the 
farm, sheep, under good management, are one of the most profitable 
enterprises for these irrigated farms. Figures 16, 17, and 18 illus- 
trate some of the advantages of sheep in this district. — : 
SUMMARY OF PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 
In summarizing the development of the project attention is par- 
ticularly directed to the following points: 3 
1. From the beginning development has been rapid. It is now 
a nie over 20 years since water was first turned into the irrigation 
ditches. 
2. There was much to learn in the beginning. The settlers came 
from the North, South, East, and West, and many of them were inex- 
perienced in irrigated farming. Little was known of the productive 
capacity of the soil under irrigation. The settlers, therefore, had 
to learn—very largely from experience—what crops and_ livestock 
could be produced and how to produce them. They had to learn, 
furthermore, what crops, livestock, and livestock products could 
be marketed to advantage. 
3. So far as production is concerned, the 20 years of farm experience 
has shown that the project is well adapted to a very wide range of 
boon. During ae time the yields of practically all crops have 
een materially increased. Through competition, as shown in 
Figure 7, some crops have been almost eliminated, whereas others 
have greatly increased in importance. The changing prices of farm 
products, the changing of freight rates, the introduction and increase 
of crop and livestock pests, and the wide range of enterprises from 
which to choose are some of the factors that have made the selection 
of crop and livestock enterprises a very complicated problem. 
BUSINESS ANALYSIS OF THE FARMS STUDIED 
Because of the newness of the agriculture of the district, the wide 
range of crops adapted to the area, and the swing to cash-crop produc- 
tion during the four years immediately preceding the first year 
covered by this study (1919) very few farmers were found who had 
adopted definite crop rotations or cropping systems. In analyzing 
the business of the farms from which records were obtained, how- 
ever, they were arranged in three groups or types: (1) General crop 
_ farms; (2) dairy and general crop farms; and (8) orchard and general 
crop farms. 
” il lt i ee he el 
