70 SHEEP HUSBANDRY IN THE SOUTH. 



lambs twice, even at the North. Seeing the lambs in the 

 flock of an eminent breeder, in Missouri, failing, Mr. Shaeffer 

 recommended immediate shearing. The advice was followed, 

 and all were saved; one of these lambs (a ram), when grown, 

 was afterwards sold for $150. 



The shearing in Texas is all performed by Mexicans, from 

 both sides of the river Rio Grande ; many coming in, for this 

 purpose, even from as far as Monterey. They shear by the 

 head ; the usual price being $3.50 per hundred for fine sheep. 

 The shearers average about thirty head a day. The shearing 

 is performed on a floor or platform, especially constructed for 

 this purpose. The most careful flock -masters have this floor 

 protected by a roof. The barn floors of the North, it must 

 be remembered, are not known in Texas. In shearing, the 

 Mexicans tie down the sheep upon the floor, usually about 

 ten at a time. This time the flock-master improves for ex- 

 amining his sheep and the character of their fleeces. He selects 

 those which are to be culled out on account of age or defects 

 of fleece, or those which are to be preserved for special uses 

 in breeding; makes the proper marks upon the animals, duly 

 entering them into his sheep-book. The wool from the spring 

 shearing is tied up in fleeces ; the fall shearing, being light, 

 is put in sacks, without being tied. The packing the wool 

 in sacks, Although it cannot be dispensed with, is consid- 

 ered disadvantageous to the grower of the wools ; as wool 

 from inferior fleeces, or an inferior part of the body, is liable 

 to be mixed with better wool, and to prejudice the whole lot 

 to the buyer. It is believed that a profitable enterprise, and 

 one very advantageous to the Texan growers, would be the 

 establishment in that country of extensive wool-scouring 

 establishments, like those in Belgium and France. The 

 facility of obtaining scoured wool would be advantageous to 

 manufacturers with small capital and establishments, and in 

 saving of freight. The sheep in Texas, it must be observed, 

 are never washed. The water is calcareous; and perhaps 

 contains iron, because it makes the wool black. 



Even with the rich pastures of Texas, it is deemed desira- 

 ble to have at least two acres to every sheep. It is of the 



