FLOCK HUSBANDRY IN WESTERN STATES 223 



might be called the nomadic, or trailing system, for 

 the herds spend their summers on the high moun- 

 tain pastures, their springs and falls in intermediate 

 regions and their winters in the low-lying parts, on 

 the deserts and foothills. Some of the better cared- 

 f or flocks are fed during part of the winter or spring 

 on alfalfa or other hay grown in the valleys. 



These trailing bands of sheep are in charge of 

 herders each having in his care from 2,000 to 3,000 

 except during lambing time, when he is given a 

 smaller number and very often has help in addition. 

 He may start with them in spring, when their jour- 

 ney begins from the desert toward the mountains. 

 All winter they have lived on desert herbage and 

 brush, and snow has been largely their reliance for 

 drink. When that is melted and the water holes are 

 dried up the sheep must come out of the desert and 

 head toward their mountain ranges. Very often 

 these ranges are a hundred miles away and in rarer 

 instances they are much more distant. The herder 

 moves the band each day by slow stages towards 

 their destination, taking care to visit each promising 

 spot along the way where perchance food may be 

 found. This forage may be of green grass quick 

 grown from the melting snows and genial sun, which 

 even in March shows a fervor unknown in eastern 

 lands, or it may be the young shoots of rabbit brush, 

 willows and sage with an admixture of weeds. 



The herder usually has a wagon equipped with a 

 canvas cover, stove and commissary. In this, his 

 home, he is established and with it he journeys in 



