230 EESOUiiCES OF CALIFOIINIA. 



ject, tliat a slieep, born and bred in California, is, at two years 

 of age, usually as large and heavy as one of three years, born 

 and bred in tlie Atlantic States. The ewes produce twins and 

 triplets more frequently here than east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. The health of the herds is better. No fatal disease has 

 ever prevailed to any serious extent. The " scab" exists in 

 many herds, but in a mild i'orm, and few have died of it. It is 

 the general opinion of sheep-breeders that the sheep bred in 

 California will produce more wool than those of other states. 

 The heaviest unwashed fleece on record, is that of " Grizzly," 

 a French Merino buck. It was fourteen months old, Aveighed 

 forty-two pounds, and was sheared by Flhit, Bixby & Co., in 

 Monterey county, in 1859. 



Sheej) in California are never kept imder shelter, and except 

 a few of line blood, seldom get any food save such as they 

 can pick up on the open hills and plains. Sometimes lambs 

 are lost with cold, but this is very rare when they are well 

 managed. At night the herds are driven into corrals or pens, 

 to protect them against the coyotes, and to keep them from 

 being lost. On the large sheep ranches, one herdsman is em- 

 ployed for a thousand sheep. There are a few shepherd-dogs 

 in the state, some brought from Australia, others from Scot- 

 land. The word " corral" is understood by these dogs, and 

 when they hear it, they immediately drive the herd to the 

 corral. At the sight of a wolf, they hastily collect the sheep 

 into a dense body, with their tails out and the lambs in the 

 centre. If a sheep turns his head out, the dog bites his knees 

 and makes him turn about. The dog seems to understand 

 that the wolf cannot do much harm by biting the rump of a 

 sheep, but w^ould soon kill it after catching its throat. 



In most other sheep countries, the sheep-breeder is at great 

 disadvantages as compared with California ; the land is dear ; 

 it must be cultivated ; the sheep must be fed by hand every 

 day during a considerable part of the year ; the herds must be 

 under shelter in the winter ; four or five men are required, on 

 an average, to attend to a thousand sheej) ; the herds are not 



