6 BULLETIN 665, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
farms, owing to poor utilization. On the average truck farm the 
cost of horse labor per day is $1.18 : on stock farms, $1 ; and on staple- 
crop farms. $0.96. 
COST OF WORK STOCK. 
The average annual cost of maintaining work stock is $106 per 
head, which includes value of feed consumed, depreciation, interest, 
etc. The value of feed consumed per animal is approximately $90 per 
head. 
There are nearly three times as many mules as horses utilized on 
the farms of the region. The average value of 75 horses encountered 
is $102 per head ; of 196 mules, the average value is $113 per head. 
On farms averaging 31 acres of crop land the average value of horses 
is $96, and of mules $123. On large farms of 82 acres of crop land 
horses average in value $110 per head and mules $155. The value of 
feed consumed per head on the same farms increases from $72 to $96 
as the size of farm increases. 
DOUBLE CROPPING. 
One of the most important factors affecting profits is the ability 
of farm operators to produce more than one crop on the same land 
during the same year. All farmers produce corn or other staple 
crops, but many do not produce second crops on this land during the 
same year. On 12 of the 59 farms studied no second crops were pro- 
duced, and returns of but 2.1 per cent on the investment were made, 
while on 21 farms an average of more than one-half of the land pro- 
duced a second crop during the same year. These 21 farms made 
average net incomes more than four times as great as those doing no 
double cropping. 
The staple crops are essential to the stability of the farm business, 
but the truck crops when successful are much more profitable. The 
second or truck crops should be diversified in character, as any one 
crop of this class may be a failure, owing to market conditions or 
other causes, while others are entirely successful. 
Double cropping is of prime importance to profitable farming in 
the lower Rio Grande irrigated district. 
INCOMES ON IRRIGATED FARMS. 
The average farm income (difference between expenses and re- 
ceipts) of the 59 farms studied is $1,171. To find the net profit there 
must be deducted from this the value of supervision by the operator. 
The farms average in net returns 6.3 per cent on the investment. 
The percentage return on investment is approximately the same for 
groups of farms of different sizes : however, the farm income increases 
when the size increases. 
