Visit of Breeder Of Arizona Cattle

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 161, 11 July 1939, Page 5

Visit of Breeder Of Arizona Cattle

TEN YEARS OF DROUGHT Prices for meat in Arizona had not fluctuated since 1920, and cattlebreeders had in no way been affected by the depression, said Mr. John P. Cull, a member of the Arizona Livestock Board, and a breeder of Hereford cattle, of Douglas, Arizona, who arrived at Auckland by the Mariposa. For the last ten years Arizona had been faced with a drought problem, the normal annual rainfall of 18in. dropping to lOin. or 12in. His own 35,000-acro estate would carry double its present stock if the rainfall returned to normal, said Mr. Cull, who thought that the end of the drought cycle was near. Although the land was typical range country, his cattle fattened well ou the coarso grasses, said Mr. Cull, and the average weight of his cows when sold was 12001 b. Prices were firm and ho received eight to nine cents a pound for weaner calves, eight cents, a pound for yearling steers and five to six cents, a pound for cows. Soil conservation was a problem which the United States Government was handling in Arizona by carefully nursing water-courses, said Mr. Cull. Parts of Arizona that had been irrigated, such as the Phoenix Valley, had proved to be agriculturally rich, but the State had earned a reputation for cotton, copper and cattle. Mr. Cull and his family will spend seven days in the North Island before leaving for Sydney from Wellington.