284 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



were, in the aggregate, one tliird of all the sheep within the district, and 

 caused solely by starvation. It should be remembered, however, as a n\it- 

 igating circumstance, tliat this year was one of extraordinary drought, 

 and it brought to light, in a ver}' forcible manner, the improvidence of 

 the stock growers of the Pacific States, as nearly every one was caught 

 without a jjound of hay stored up against such a contingency. Even in 

 years of plenty, the losses by death and shrinkage, from a short supply 

 and the bad quality of the food which sheep are able to pick up out on 

 the range during the inclement season between old and new grass, are 

 always very large. This could be avoided by a little attention to the 

 cutting and stacking of hay in the spring, when the grass is abundant. 

 This most inclement season of all the year is the period when the female 

 is in gestation, and if subjected to a low and scant diet, will be in bad 

 condition for parturition, and afterwards to suckle her young. 



The annual shearing takes place in the spring, at a time when the ani- 

 mal is in good condition, with an abundance of food to keep it so for some 

 months afterwards ; hence the fibre of the new growing fleece comes out 

 of the cuticle strong and of even texture. But if starvation overtakes 

 the hapless animal, the skin shrivels as the sheep declines in fiesh, and 

 this material!}' affects that part of the staple then pushing through the 

 cuticle, rendering it weak and uneven. Subsequently, as the animal 

 again has access to an abundance of nourishing food, and recovers in 

 flesh, the fibre resumes its first strong, even condition, but there will be 

 a weak spot in the middle, caused by the famishment of the sheep. Such 

 wools are greatly deteriorated in value, on account of the weak spot in 

 the fibre ; because, however fine the staple, if it is not even it is unfit to 

 be spun and worked into the finest cloths. 



ANNUAL MIGRATION OF SHEEP BENEFICIAL. 



Among the lessons taught the wool growers of California by the exces- 

 sive drought of eighteen hundred and sixty-four, was that of the benefit 

 of migration. The absolute impossibility of keeping alive their vast 

 herds in the valleys and coast districts, led man}' sheep owners to adopt 

 a plan similar in some respects to the Spanish custom called the mesta. 

 The great merino flocks of Spain are wintered on the plains of Estra- 

 madura and the lowland provinces, where the climate is so mild that the 

 grazing is good through that season, but on the approach of hot weather, 

 about the first of May, they are made to take up their annual line of 

 march for the elevated mountain ranges. The journej'S are made in 

 vast flocks, comprising often fifty thousand in a mesta, subdivided into 

 divisions of ten thousand each, and the space travelled over frequently 

 reaches a distance of three or four hundred miles. B}' this means the 

 sheep are alwa3'S retained in a temperate climate, avoiding the extremes 

 of the summer heat on the lowlands, and the severity of the winter on 

 the mountains. 



The value of the Sierra Nevada range has been little understood by 

 stock growers until the past season of drought in the valleys and coast 

 districts. Many stock growers fled from the famine on the plains to the 

 mountains with their flocks and herds as from a pestilence, and this 

 migration which began in necessity was so advantageous in its results 

 that it is likely to become an annual custom. The cattle and sheep 

 driven to the elevated pastures on the Sierra, not onl}- found an abun- 

 dance of nutritious grasses, but the fine climate was so favorable to 



