SHEEP. 1003 



The cost of shearing ranges from two cents a head (where Mex- 

 icans or Indians are employed) to six cents for good American 

 shearers. Throughout the Territories the average estimate of cost 

 of keep is thirty cents per head per year. In Nebraska, Dakota, 

 and Montana (the latter is especially adapted to Merino) the cost 

 is even lower; thirteen cents a head will cover the expense of 

 wintering. One man often herds two thousand head alone, ex- 

 cept in lambing time then two or three are required to a flock. 

 Every morning during the lambing season the flock is allowed 

 to drift slowly away from camp, leaving behind the ewes with 

 freshly dropped lambs. These are then removed and herded in 

 a separate band. 



Sheep are remarkably exempt from disease (except scab) in 

 all this region. And scab can be kept well in hand by vigor- 

 ous preventive treatment. This consists of a tobacco and sul- 

 phur bath twice a year, into which the sheep are dipped or, 

 preferably, driven one by one, falling in suddenly and coming 

 out by a long ascent, at the top of which the wool is squeezed. 

 In Texas there is a malady locally known as " lombrieze," 

 apparently the same as paperskin (treated further on). Mag- 

 gots and the " screw worm " are a troublesome pest in hot, muggy 

 weather in that latitude, and compel close tagging and careful 

 watching of the flocks. The normal profit in Texas has been 

 for some years twenty-five per cent ; in exceptional cases it 

 reaches thirty-three and a third or falls to zero. 



Sheep husbandry in the South is so sporadic and so jeop- 

 ardized by the dog that, in the limited space here allowed, it 

 can be treated only with good wishes. Maryland and Virginia 

 (Tidewater) may be included in the Atlantic slope with the 

 system above outlined. 



In Australia, on the vast plains, sheep husbandry is pros- 

 ecuted on a scale to which America can furnish no parallel. 

 One individual in New Zealand owns 386,000; another in New 

 South Wales 261,000, etc. A sheep-run is called a station ; in 

 all the colonies, except Victoria, it is generally hired from the 

 government on a long lease at about ten shillings ($2.30) per 

 mile, with the reservation that any bona fide settler may choose 



