26 
BULLETIN 654, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
of little importance in Salt River Valley or in Gila Valley, the yields 
in these districts being unsatisfactory. Either one or two crops per 
year may be produced, according to the inclination of the grower. 
In Yuma Valley, where all the alfalfa-seed farms studied for this 
bulletin were found, the yields are usually highly satisfactory, the 
average for the farms studied being 285 pounds per acre; and as much 
as 1,300 pounds of salable seed per acre from two crops in a single 
season has been reported on one farm. It is the most profitable enter- 
prise found in this valley, constituted the principal source of receipts 
on 12 of the farms studied, and was an important side line on many 
others. The 12 farms averaged 71 acres in size, and the average 
results obtained were as follows: Receipts, $3,750; farm income, 
$2,479; labor income, $1,273. The sale of hay was made an impor- 
tant secondary enterprise on these 12 farms, the average receipts 
from hay being 22.9 per cent of the total receipts, while alfalfa seed 
furnished an average of 58.6 per cent of the total. 
DAIRY FARMING. 
Dairy farming is a well-established enterprise, and is steadily 
growing in importance. The mild winter climate, the long growing 
season, and the abundance of green forage due to the thrifty alfalfa 
plant, all combine to make southern Arizona a congenial home for 
the dairy cow. The farmers are coming more and more to realize 
the stability of the dairy enterprise, and at the present time there 
are more than twice as many men making dairying a leading enter- 
prise as can be found engaged in its nearest competitor, hay farming. 
Of 627 farms studied, dairying was a leading enterprise on 178, con- 
tributing an average of 67.7 per cent of the total receipts. Upon 38 
farms dairying was combined with some other enterprise, the two 
enterprises contributing more than 80 per cent of the total receipts. 
In addition to these 216 farms upon which dairying was the most 
important enterprise, there were 109 diversified farms upon which 
dairying contributed an average of 22.3 per cent of the total receipts, 
a larger amount than was contributed by any other one of the various 
enterprises found on these farms. The general results obtained in 
dairy farming are presented in Table X: 
Table X. — Results obtained in dairy farming in the irrigated valleys of southern Arizona, 
1913 to 1915. 
Type of farming and percentage of receipts 
and leading enterprises. 
Number 
of farms. 
Average 
area. 
Number 
failing to 
make 8 
percent. 
Average 
Total 
receipts. 
Average 
farm 
income. 
Average 
labor 
income. 
Dairy, 67.7 
Poultrv, 7.5. . 
} ,» 
> • 
} - 
A cres. 
83 
21 
63 
22 
5 
6 
13,859 
1 ,366 
2,792 
$2,600 
1.012 
1,709 
Sl,081 
Dairy, 49.3.. 
Poultry, 36.8 
173 
Dairy, 41.1 
Hay, 40x5 
556 
