AGRICULTURE. 273 



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, weighed 

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

 Monterey County, in 1859, 



Sheep in California are never kept under shelter, and except 

 a few of fine 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 man- 

 aged. 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 

 center. 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 would 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 sheep ; the herds are not 

 so healthy, do not increase so rapidly, do not grow so large 

 within the first two years, and do not produce so much wool. 

 The laud of the sheep ranches in California is not worth more 

 than five dollars per acre, on an average probably not more 

 than three dollars. It follows that sheep-breeding should be 

 very profitable here, and so it is. The ewes, when properly 

 18 



