In Elbashï, the poor households were in much the same position as corresponding households in Sakaltutan. At the other end of the scale the richer households provided a marked contrast. In 1951 and 1952, several households farming something like sixty acres each year harvested about one thousand bushels, and were able to sell, after allowing for their larger populations of both humans and animals, six hundred to seven hundred bushels, thus making a profit of about T.L.4,000. I happened to see an official receipt for one such household for roughly this sum.
Sheep can also provide a considerable cash income, besides providing milk, fat, meat and wool for the household. One informant in Elbashï claimed that each ewe produces each spring a lamb worth T.L.25, cheese worth T.L.20 p.a., and two kilos of wool which pay all the expenses of its care and fodder, giving a net profit of T.L.45 p.a. This was unduly optimistic. It is true that costs are low, since the sheep live on free pasture most of the year, and on straw for the winter months. But not every ewe lambs successfully, disease is common, and insurance unheard of. This informant on the same occasion gave a not entirely logical estimate of about T.L.2,000 income from eighty-five ewes.
Cattle, buffaloes and horses are mainly kept for work, although the cows produce milk which is not marketed, and calves which are. Buffaloes produce more and better milk, and more valuable calves - a mature draught buffalo will fetch T.L.500, but for this a man must face the expense and risk of keeping it for three years or so. Horses are bred and sold in Elbashï; even the family donkey may produce foals. Chickens and eggs are often sold, though chicken rearing is extremely casual; a few households breed pigeons.
To put a figure to the cash surplus from these sources is almost impossible. In general and with marked exceptions, I would guess that the total cash income from farming is between one-and-a-half and two times the cash income from grain.
To make any kind of estimate of total incomes by households is even more difficult. For Sakaltutan I was able to divide