986 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



visits his flock with supplies and for oversight once in ten days or two 

 weeks. He thrives according to his fitness for practical management. 



The portions of eastern Oregon and Washington which will admit of 

 an increase of sheep under present methods are those which are now 

 preeminent for wool of the least shrinkage and best quality. Several 

 efforts have been made to improve the wool crop of the district with 

 crosses of other blood than Merino, but in every case those who experi- 

 mented have returned to the Merino after the second year. I think 

 it is safe, therefore, to say that eastern Oregon is most suitable for the 

 Merino as a breed, and its highest lands are suitable to the production 

 of the finest staple wools of that breed and of the best quality. 



Wool is the first object with the range flock master and mutton second. 

 The high-grade Merino is very generally preferred for both purposes 

 under this system and upon these dry ranges. The wool will grade from 

 half-blood up to full-blood French Merino, and 8 pounds per fleece is 

 given as an average, the rates increasing as the flocks are wintered on 

 the low sandy plains, and lessening as they are kept on the highest 

 lands, but greatly improving in quality. Prices range from 12 \ cents 

 to 19 cents per pound. Methods of management vary greatly with the 

 differences of locality. I transcribe the method of A. M. Kelsey, of 

 Antelope, Wasco County, as a good average illustration : 



Beginning June 5, the lambs, 900 in number, from a flock of 1,000 

 ewes, have been marked and docked before shearing, which is just 

 finished. The flock is ready to be started to its mountain range for the 

 summer, provided it is sound and free from scab, concerning which the 

 shearing affords ample opportunity to learn. Should it be affected in 

 the least degree, the first thing to be done after shearing is to dip. Of 

 the various preparations for that purpose a mixture of lime and sulphur 

 is considered the most effective, and immediately after the sheep have 

 been shorn is the best time, because, first, the composition reaches the 

 parasites most easily and effectually; second, the wool being harvested r 

 the injury to the fleece from the use of lime and sulphur is reduced to 

 a minimum. The dipping process is effected by swimming the sheep 

 slowly through a trough 40 feet long and 5 feet deep, filled with a blood- 

 warm preparation of 15 pounds of sulphur and 30 pounds of lime to 90 

 gallons of water, well mixed by boiling together before putting in the 

 vat. This process is usually repeated after an interval of fourteen to 

 eighteen days, when, if the work has been thorough, the flock will be 

 clean. The cost of this process, labor included, is 2 cents per head for 

 each dipping. Some flock-owners dip as a precaution against infection 

 in passing to the mountains, and also dip their rams before commencing 

 the breeding season. 



For the management of this flock of 1,900 ewes and lambs, during the 

 summer months from May 25 to October 10, two men and three horses, 

 at a cost of $100 x>er month, including wages, board and equipage, are 



