428 CHANGES IN RANGE CONDITIONS 



of the best laborers, and the wage-seekers who enter sheep camps 

 to-day do not possess the kind of motives that insure efficiency. In 

 the early days the sheep camps were occupied by ambitious young 

 men who needed money to be sure, but who also wanted the ex- 

 perience that would prepare them for engaging in business for them- 

 selves. Therefore, they were up and doing and they were efficient. 

 But now, when it is not easy for the ambitious, poor young man to get 

 into the sheep business for himself and since labor is scarce, prac- 

 tically any one who will go to herd sheep is acceptable. Those who 

 do go are usually wanderers who go from place to place without 

 becoming fixed to any occupation and, although they may work well, 

 they herd sheep poorly because they do not stay with the job long 

 enough to learn how. 



The cost of labor has increased. In the past twenty years the 

 increase in monthly wages has been very great. The report of the 

 Tariff Board, issued in 1911, states that in 1895, or thereabouts, 

 there was no difficulty in hiring herders at $15 per month in New 

 Mexico and that in California their services could be secured for 

 $25 per month. It would take from three to four times these wages 

 to get herders at the present time. 



There is also increased cost incurred in securing labor. In the 

 past a goodly supply of reliable help was easily obtained close to the 

 ranches. That is, it was largely a matter of the laborers seeking the 

 job, but the reverse is the situation now. Owners and superin- 

 tendents have to go to town and spend several days in finding 

 laborers. This may occur several times in the year, and when 

 special labor is needed, such as in the lambing season, the hunt for 

 men is so strenuous that an owner or superintendent spends time 

 in town which would better be spent on the ranch if help were pro- 

 curable in any other manner. 



Better Provision Required. It requires a greater expenditure 

 per month to provide for sheep herders than formerly. This has 

 come about mainly through the adoption of a higher standard of 

 living which is traceable in part to the scarcity of labor. When 

 efficient laborers began to be scarce the more aggressive sheep owners 

 improved the quality and increased the variety of provisions in 

 order to attract more men and particularly the best herders to their 

 camps. In a short time all owners were forced to provide well in 

 order to get laborers at all. Then with the inception of more settled 

 conditions there was perhaps a general rise in the standard of living 



