612 



FARMER'S CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK 



home at night. When the grazing be- 

 comes short in that locality the camp is 

 moved some distance away and the new 

 camp made a center for further grazing. 

 Herders are always assisted by sheep 

 dogs ; in fact, it would be practically im- 

 possible to handle the sheep without 

 them. 



The winter range i s usually located 

 conveniently near to the ranch house or 

 to large sheds or hay stacks. In regions 

 where heavy snows are expected they 

 must be maintained near covered corrals 

 or a supply of hay, in order to prevent 

 disaster from heavy snows. Under the 

 dry atmospheric conditions of the West, 

 the grasses on unpastured ranges cure 



in recent years, however, it has been 

 found desirable to grow a sheep that 

 will produce mutton as well as wool. 

 The Merino breeds have therefore been 

 extensively crossed with the different 

 types of the mutton breeds, using prin- 

 cipally Cotswold and Lincoln bucks. A 

 buck of the mutton type is used until 

 the wool of the sheep begins to appear 

 too coarse, when the flock is crossed back 

 again with Merino bucks using chiefly 

 the Delaine or Rambouillet type. 



The time of shearing varies accord- 

 ing to the latitude. In the southwestern 

 states, the sheep are sheared twice a 

 year, while in the northern states they 

 are sheared but once, usually in June, 



Fig. 379 — SHEARING BY HAND 



up into a very nutritious kind of hay 

 on which sheep maintain themselves in 

 good condition during the winter. The 

 chief forage plants are the legumes, 

 especially lupines, various species of 

 sage-brush and numerous wild grasses. 

 Alfilaria (Erodium cicutarium) is one 

 of the very best green winter pasture 

 plants. 



Running water is not essential for 

 sheep in winter time where snow is 

 plentiful, since the sheep can feed on 

 the snow. This makes it possible to 

 range sheep on land that could not be 

 used in the summer time for want of 

 water. 



Breeds raised_I n the early days the 

 Merino was the breed principally grown, 

 usually mixed with other crosses. With- 



after cold weather is past. The shearing 

 is done by professionals who travel from 

 the southern part of the country north- 

 ward with the season. In shearing by 

 hand, an expert can handle from 90 to 

 150 sheep a day, while some of the best 

 shearers have sheared as many as 250 

 sheep in a day. On a good many ranches 

 a sheep shearing plant run by gasoline 

 or some other form of power is main- 

 tained. The sheep cannot be sheared 

 any faster by machines than by hand, 

 but it is believed that a little more wool 

 can be obtained than by hand shearing 

 and that a novice is less likely to cut 

 the sheep in shearing. Large companies 

 have also been formed for the purpose 

 of shearing sheep. 



