448 Transactions of the American Institute. 



Wool. 

 Sheep are clipped twice a year — in April or May, and October or 

 November. Lambs that are dropped in the spring are clipped in the 

 fall. The average weight of fleece of the. native sheep is two pounds 

 each clipping. In flocks that have a sprinkling of States sheep the 

 average is more. A few years since they were sheared with sharp 

 knives — a very imperfect and cruel process ; but of late, wool-shears 

 have generally been adopted. The cost of clipping is one and one- 

 half cents per head. A smart Mexican, it is said, can clip 150 in a 

 day. Of course he doesn't make nice work, nor is he squeamish about 

 cutting holes in the skin. The sheep are washed by being driven 

 several times through a rapid stream. There is no manipulation of 

 the wool. The fleece loses by washing about one-fifth. Wool was 

 worth at the ranch, in 1870, from twenty-three cents to twenty-eight 

 cents per pound ; in 1871 it brought thirty-five cents. Sheep are 

 valued at two dollars per head, but in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, 

 they can be bought for thirty-seven to fifty cents each, and brought 

 here to cost but one dollar per head. 



How expenses are ■paid. 

 The only expenses are the wages of herders and the cost of clipping. 

 These expenses, with the annual loss by death, General Mo n toy a says, 

 can be paid by the sheep themselves in the thrashing season by tramp- 

 ing out grain. During the night the sheep are driven over the grain, 

 and rewarded for their labor by being permitted to graze during the 

 day. In one night it is calculated that each sheep will tramp out a 

 fanaga (two and a half bushels) of wheat, for which the sheep-owner 

 is paid one-tenth. In one season, 1,000 sheep can, in this way, earn 

 500 bushels of wheat. Last year, General Montoya says, 500 of his 

 sheep earned 295 bushels of wheat, equivalent to $531. At this rate, 

 if the whole herd could be employed, after paying all expenses there 

 would be a large margin of profit. It is quite sufficient, we think, 

 if the sheep " tramp out " all expenses, as they really " work for 

 nothing and board themselves." Taking it for granted, then, that all 

 expenses are paid, and all losses made up by the labor of the sheep. 

 I will take General Montoya's figures and estimate. 



The Profits. 

 Suppose we start now (January, 1872) with 1,000 ewes brought 

 from Chihuahua— cost on the ground $1,000. These 1,000 ewes will, 

 in April and May, drop upwards of 1,500 lambs ; say 1,500 lambs 



