MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 253 



this is a purely Mexican trait, as we have known some of our 

 white labor unions employing the same tactics. A smattering 

 knowledge of the Spanish language is almost absolutely necessary 

 to the New Mexico sheep owner. 



In lambing his flock the successful sheep man must exercise 

 his best efforts, for, as a matter of course, if he does not raise a 

 large percentage of lambs whenever natural conditions are favor- 

 able he will soon go out of the business backward. 



Lambing a large flock of ewes on the range is no easy matter 

 if one is to make a success of it. The first thing that should oc- 

 cupy the owner's attention after he has his sheep on good feed, 

 or the best available for the best kind of a manager cannot raise 

 a good percentage of lambs from a flock of poor ewes is the 

 question of his hired help, the number of men he needs and 

 where he is going to get them. 



FALSE ECONOMY. 



Some sheep men make the mistake of economizing in help at 

 lambing time, and dearly do they pay for it, for among all the 

 ideas of false economy on a sheep ranch this is by far the 

 worst. Some men use more help in lambing than others, and 

 the number needed varies greatly according to the location and 

 the amount of work the owner is willing to do himself. We 

 might say that at lambing time the owner's presence with the flock 

 is almost indispensable. Of course, large holders have foremen 

 who can do the managing as well if not better than the owner, but 

 throughout this article the small flock owner, the man with from 

 2,000 to 4,000 head, is held in view. 



In saying that the presence of the owner is indispensable 

 during lambing we are taking it for granted that he knows how 

 to manage his sheep, but if he is a green hand at the business, he 

 had better hire a sort of working manager for the first lambing 

 season and be on hand himself in the lambing camp in order 

 to learn to do his own managing in the future. One cannot em- 

 phasize too strongly the need of a lambing camp where there are 

 1,000 ewes or over to lamb having a. manager who is boss of every- 

 thing and who gets around and sees -to details. He needs a good 

 saddle horse, well-fed, and by means of this horse should cover his 

 lambing ground thoroughly every day and thereby attend to all 

 details, for it is these that count in the sheep business. He may 

 go out to the dropping herd and find a ewe sadly in the need of 

 help, with a couple of Mexicans standing around not knowing what 

 to do. After giving the ewe proper attention he goes on to a 

 lambing herd farther on, where he will probably find a herder 



