UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 654 
Office of the Secretary 
Contribution from the Office of Farm Management 
W. J. SPILLMAN, Chief 
s\J^'^j-u 
Washington, D. C. 
June 14, 1918 
FARM ORGANIZATION IN THE IRRIGATED VALLEYS 
OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. 
By R. W. Clothier, Agriculturist. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
Object of investigations 1 
Summary of results 1 
General description of localities 4 
Method of investigation 15 
Standards used in this bulletin for measuring 
success 17 
Types of farming 
The adaptation of the farm enterprises to the 
size of the farm 
The relation of capital invested and size of 
farm to farm income and labor income . . . 
42 
OBJECT OF INVESTIGATIONS. 
This bulletin presents the results of a farm survey of 627 farms 
conducted in the three larger irrigated valleys in southern Arizona. 
The general object of the investigations was to determine those factors 
of business management and farm practice which influence financial 
returns and lead to success or failure, in order that recommendations 
might be made that would lead to general financial improvement 
among all farmers in the districts studied. The valleys are located as 
follows (see fig. 1) : Salt River Valley, in the southeastern part of 
Maricopa County; Gila Valley in Graham County northeast of the 
Pinolenos Range of mountains; and Yuma Valley, in Yuma County, 
in the southwest corner of the State. 
SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 
The facts brought out by this study indicate that the selection of 
farm enterprises is of great importance and should be carefully 
studied both by new and old settlers. Over 25 per cent of the farms 
in the three valleys failed to pay current interest rates on invest- 
ment, owing largely to a farm organization based primarily on rela- 
tively unprofitable enterprises. 
Dairying was found to be the most stable as well as the most popu- 
lar enterprise in the three valleys, contributing 67.7 per cent of the 
32657°— 18— Bull. 654 1 
