Arizona republican., 1912-06-18
Board of Trade Secretary Writes an Article for
 Hoard's Dairyman
 of Interest Here.
ALFALFA FED HERDS
 SPLENDID RETURNS
First Page of Current Issue Devoted to Write Up and Displays Big
 Photo of Dam.
(HOard's Dairyman.)

Arizona is rarely thought of as a dairy country, but some of the sue cesseS that have made the Salt river valley famous for it's dairying. will be of interest. This valley, covering 240.00O acres of irrigated land is the agricultural center of Arizona The successes are many, and to us of the east, some are quite novel
 Principal among the advantages that the west has to offer is green feed the year round." This is esDe- cialIy true of that section surround ing Phoenix, in the Salt river valley, Arizona, where this most essential feature of green feed the year round" is carried out to absolute perfection. Here the staple feed, all falfa, is supplied with unlimited wa ter during the twelve months of the year.
 The great Roosevelt dam, with d lake twenty five miles long, insures this plentiful supply of the necessary water. Nature has also been kind and supplies in addition a climate that makes it possible for stock of all kinds to remain Out-Of-doOr throughout the year. No barns for the storage of feed are necessary and no sheds are necessary for protection while milking, though in many cases these are provided as a matter of convenience and not necessity.
 On the ranges of Arizona, there are large herds of livestock, numbering i'll all about one million head. The feed ing of these cattle. or rather the finishing of these range cattle for market purposes, is done chiefly on the alfalfa fields in the Salt river valley and very quickly after the stock is put on this splendid forage, they are ready for the butcher. The cattle are also grazed on the fields of grain during the cooler winter months; this is done in order to pre- vent the grain from growing too rank. This feed is very fattening and comes at the period of the year when the alfalfa makes it's slower growth.
 For twenty five years there has been a steady improvement in the breeding of stock Thoroughbred bulls have been imported in numbers with the result that today the ranges in Arizona are stocked with animals which are equal to any in the whole country For fattening on alfalfa, a conservative farmer will allow three steers to two acres of alfalfa. Two head to the acre is a common prac- tice but the first is estimated to be in general use The plan of allowing the cattle to graze on the alfalfa has now been found too eXtraVagant when compared to methods in other sec tions. At the present time there are being installed throughout the valley systems of feeding which are prov ing extremely economical in point of expense and results. Often times there are over 35,OOO head being fat tened for market in the Salt river valley.
 But it is of dairying that we wish to speak more fully ill this article and probably the best way to do it is to let one of our ranchers, who has been in the Salt river valley for twen- ty years. tell his own story MT. C. T. Hirst in his report says:
 Climate and irrigation in this val ley make it possible to raise green feed for dairy cows so they can have it for at least nine months in the year, and some green feed with hay for the other three months. This makes it possible to keep a cow up to her highest standard much easier than in a climate where there is cold weather and where she has to be fed dry feed q considerable part of the year. Naturally a COW fed upon pasture can be cared for cheaper than in any other way Following are some instances of what cows will do in this valley:
 I happen to have a very good Jer- sey cow of my own that for the last three seasons, beginning with her first calf, when she was less than two years old has returned from $100 to $125 per season for milk sold be sides all the milk used by 2 family of from four to six people This COW is fed entirely on dry feed hav- ing all the alfalfa hay she can eat and about two quarts of bran night and morning. During the month of November, 1911, I sold $33.75 worth of milk and the family used from four to seven quarts of milk per day The hay cost about $7 and the bran about $3; the milk was sold at the regular dairy price Of eight ana third cents per quart. one nerd ol ten high grade and thoroughbred Jer- sey cows that l know of has averaged a little over one pound of butter1a' per day per COW. Some of the best cows in this herd give over 50C pounds of butterfat per year, Whlch sells at from thirty cents to thirty eight cents per pounds, thus making the best cows in the herd return $lN per head per year, or an average foI the entire bunch of SPA per COW per year. The average cost of feed TOT | this herd has been two dollars per month per head, and the cost o1 milking is about the same, leaving
 the net returns for the ten cows foi one year $S60. The demand for sWee' cream, at the various mining camps
 and towns in Arizona, is so large