ANIMAL INDUSTRIES 247 



keep pace with the multiplication of farms, which is 

 now taking place, may restore the equine census and 

 exceed it. It is also reasonable to expect that whether 

 there be numerically either less or more, they will 

 be better from the agricultural point of view. This 

 generalization is supported by the enumeration of 

 pure-bred horses in California by the United States 

 Census of 1920 which sets forth the total number of 

 pure-breds as 1615, of which 759 are Percherons, 152 

 Belgians, 147 Shires and Clydesdales, while Thor- 

 oughbreds number 113 and Standard-breds only 35 

 and "all other breeds" comprise the balance of 409 

 entitled to various registries. 



SHEEP 



Domesticated sheep were brought to California by 

 the Franciscan padres, and by the soldiers who 

 attended them on their mission-founding enterprise, 

 in 1769. This introduction expanded into a large 

 rude form of sheep husbandry very quickly. An early 

 writer says: "Between San Diego and San Francisco 

 in 1825 there were at the missions 1,003,970 sheep, 

 and at the ranches away from the missions as many 

 more." These figures have been impeached by later 

 historians as exaggerations, but this writing is only 

 concerned with the conception of the facts which 

 exerted an influence in the early years of American 

 occupation, and this indicates, that the coast district 

 of California had been a very great sheep country. 



Another conception of the early days is interesting : 



