204 THE WORLD'S MEAT FUTURE 



the rest how implicitly to a,ll his commands, and it is to him 

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

 shearing, etc. The shearers 9 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 rind 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 universal, and it is claimed by this method fully 

 1 \ lbs. more per sheep is obtained. Buyers usually come round 

 at shearing and purchase delivered at nearest railway station. 

 Scab, the sheepman's greatest curse, is still prevalent in 

 .Mexico : wherever the owners of sheep are Mexicans, they 

 either do not realise that it can be cured or are too indolent to 

 stamp it out by united effort ; where sheep are owned by 

 Australians, English, or .Americans, the flocks are usually free 

 from this parasite. 



Goats are largely raised, as they are most prolific, and a 

 ready sale for their carcases is always to be had at from 4/- to 

 5/- each, whilst their hides are shipped in immense quantities 

 to America for shoemaking, and realise locally about 2/6 each. 



By far the pleasantest branch of the stock business is in 

 breeding cattle, and this, after goats, is the most lucrative. 

 Formerly they were run in a haphazard style on free range, 

 and all owners together, but now as land is being bought up 

 and fenced, the small men with no land are being squeezed 

 out. and gradually the cattle industry is getting into the hands 

 of the wealthier classes. The system of working the cattle is 

 a happy combination of the best methods of all countries ; 

 properties are bought, fenced by barbed wire, and subdivided ; 

 stockyards, tanks, and wells put down, and the more improved 

 strains of Hereford, Durham, and Polled Angus are being 

 introduced. The markets for fat stock are the principal 

 cities of Mexico. Cuba, and the United .States of America. 

 It is a very healthy place for cattle. I have wver seen or heard 

 of a case of pleuro or foot-and-mouth disease, and the calvings 



