Evening star., 1924-03-15
peel Dispatch to The Star.

speci{ dispatch to The Star.
BARSON PARK, Fla, March IS
GendrAf business in the southwest is
running z per cent ahead of the.yol-
ume fof a year ago. The states COM
prlslns this section average about
evenly with the country as whole.
taAfornia is leading the group of
southwestern states with gain of
per- cent over last year; Arizona
cent? New MEXICO follows with a
gainEaf 1 per cent. In checking up
CtaH we find loss of per cent;
ColoEado, a loss of per cent, and
Nevaaa, a loss of II per cent. These
statsA differ from most of the other
"esqfn asd southern states in that
a laeee portion of their purchasing e
pow comes from their minerals.
Vastrqnantities OF petroleum have
oeenRtaken from the ground in south
ern california;; large amounts Of
copper are being mined in Arizona,
Nevada and Utah; Colorado and New
heXlco are rich in coal deposits,
while gold. silver and other metals
are found in practically all of these
The raising of live stock has also
been a feature of these states, al
though one may be somewhat sur
prlsed to find that only from to 10
per cent of their income is derived
rom this source. Arizona leads the
group in live stock production
here formerly cattle were great
source of income. ShaeD are now
round to be more profitable in most
sections. Incidentally as the price of
cotton increases the demand for wool
shouid also increase.
nay is the principal crop of each
OF tneSe states. with the exception of
California and Arizona, although 1t
should be noted that hay is more of
2 Supply crop than cash" crop.
In california. of course, fruit leads
and in Arizona half of the agricul-
tural income is derived from high
grade cotton.
Examining the barometer of fail
ures We find in California, Nevada
and Utah showing relatively small in
crease in failures compared with a
year ago; while Colorado is some
what less favorable, and Arizona and
Taiiure GM MGx,eo fnaee.ss SHOW relatively large
win the possible exception of Cali
iornla, have weathered the worst of
thelr readJustments. I am a little
anHt6usn anSt6us as cdS,x to what may happen in
gives out and the influx of new capt.
1al from eastern settlers begins to
decline.
States Analysed in Detail.
Analyzing the situation in detail,
conditions are as follows:
Ndiil VI Hid-lTOu ana steer INDUSTRY
shows little improvement. Reduction
OF forces in southern oil fields tends
to slow up allied trades. Railroad
shops activity indicates some inn
provement. Building and construc-
ton activities promise favorable
trend. COMPARED with a year ago.
there is large gain in the price of
potatoes, but there are decreases in
the prices of hay, barley and wheat.
The price index of crops is about 2
per cent under last year.
Arizona-Lumbering continues nc
tfceably active. Large program o.
highway construction provides con.
siderable employment. Metal mining
remains steady. Comparing prices
with last year. cotton shows large
gain and hay smaller gain. Wheat.
however is about the same in price
as year ago, while barley is consid-
erably less. In total the price index
OF crops is about II per cent higher
than last year.
New Mexico-Railroad shop en-
ployment steady. Proba ability of early
resumption of highway and construc-
tion activities which were impeded by
bad weather. Hay, wheat and oats
are below last year in price and corn