230 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 
ject, that a sheep, born and bred in California, is, at two years 
of age, usually as large and heavy as one of three years, born 
and bred in the Atlantic States. The ewes produce twins and 
triplets more frequently here than east of the Rocky Moun- 
tains. The health of the herds is better. No fatal disease has 
ever prevailed to any serious extent. The “scab” exists in 
many herds, but in a mild form, and few have died of it. It is 
the general opinion of sheep-breeders that the sheep bred in 
California will produce more wool than those of other ‘states. 
The heaviest unwashed fleece on record, is that of “ Grizzly,” 
a French Merino buck. It was fourteen months old, weighed 
forty-two pounds, and was sheared by Flint, Bixby & Co., in 
Monterey county, in 1859. 
Sheep in California are never kept under shelter, and except 
a few of fine blood, seldom get any food save such as they 
can pick up on the open hills and plains. Sometimes lambs 
are lost with cold, but this is very rare when they are well 
managed. At night the herds are driven into corrals or pens, 
to protect them against the coyotes, and to keep them from 
being lost. On the large sheep ranches, one herdsman is em- 
ployed for a thousand sheep. There are a few shepherd-dogs 
in the state, some brought from Australia, others from Scot- 
land. The word “corral” is understood by these dogs, and 
when they hear it, they immediately drive the herd to thé 
corral. At the sight of a wolf, they hastily collect the sheep 
into a dense body, with their tails out and the lambs in the 
centre. If a sheep turns his head out, the dog bites his knees 
and makes him turn about. The dog seems to understand 
that the wolf cannot do much harm by biting the rump of a 
sheep, but would soon kill it after catching its throat. 
In most other sheep countries, the sheep-breeder is at great 
disadvantages as compared with California; the land is dear; 
it must be cultivated; the sheep must be fed by hand every 
day during a considerable part of the year; the herds must be 
under shelter in the winter; four or five men are required, on 
an average, to attend to a thousand sheep; the herds are not 
