MEXICO 141 



the shepherd (pastor) has no dog to help him, but breaks -in his 

 flock to turn at certain cries; at night he brings his flock to the 

 camping ground (majada), and so well trained are they that 

 wherever they see the shepherd 's fire they coil down and remain 

 till morning, unless disturbed in the night by wild animals,, 

 when it is the duty of the shepherd to get round them and bring 

 them back to their camping ground, the coyote (wild dog) being 

 most troublesome. The shepherd has no tent or hut, merely 

 a piece of oilcloth to; sleep on or to keep his provisions dry ; 

 hence the shifting of camp is an easy matter, and a flock never 

 remains on one camp more than a few nights — a decided advan- 

 tage. Over every four shepherds there is a "vasiero" (over- 

 seer), whose duty it is to count sheep, carry water and rations 

 to the shepherds, and look for any stray sheep. Over every 

 four "vasieros" there is a "mayordomo" (head man), who has 

 the general supervision over all, and issues rations, etc. 



Lambing is quite a laborious undertaking. First, all ev/es in 

 lamb are carefully drafted out and run in small flocks not ex- 

 ceeding 1000; each day's lot of lambs are kept apart in small 

 "atajos" (flocks) until the lambs are well mothered, when 

 several of these "atajos" are joined; the lambed flocks a^.'e never 

 larger than 300 until the lambs are marked. All this neces- 

 sitates a number of extra hands, but as labour is very cheap,, 

 from 18/- to 20/- a month, it pays to do it, and usually good 

 percentages are raised. 



Shearing is done in temporary sheds of boughs, with mother 

 earth as a floor, swept more or less carefully (generally less) 

 for the occasion. One of the shearers being appointed captain, 

 the rest bow implicitly to all his commands, and it is to him 

 the owner of the sheep brings all complaints, such as improper 

 shearing, etc. The shearers' tallies are kept by each man 

 receiving a check as he releases his shorn sheep. The owner 

 pays a lump sum on the grand total as counted out by him to 

 the captain, who arranges with the men their individual amount. 

 The usual price for shearing is 10/- a hundred, and the shearers 

 find themselves. On very large ranches it is less, even as low 

 as 8/-. Wool is packed into large .sacks by the simple process 

 of tramping it in, fleece, pieces and bellies all in one mass, these 

 sacks averaging about 300 lbs. Shearing twice a year is uni- 

 versal, and it is claimed by this method fully 1^ lbs. per sheep 

 more is obtained. Buyers usually come round at shearing and 

 purchase delivered at nearest railway station. Scab, the sheep- 

 man 's greatest curse, is still prevalent in Mexico ; wherever the 



