232 RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 
remain about the same. Thus when a Mexican ewe is worth 
about three dollars, an American is worth five dollars, a halt 
Merino six dollars, a Southdown six dollars, and an Australian 
Merino twelve dollars. The Mexican sheep produces on an 
average two pounds of wool per year, worth from five to 
seven cents per pound; the American four pounds, worth from 
fifteen to twenty cents; the halfMerino six pounds, worth 
from eighteen to twenty-four cents; the Southdown five pounds, 
worth twenty or twenty-one cents; the Australian. Merino 
seven pounds, worth twenty or twenty-one cents. These 
weights indicate the weights of the unwashed fleeces, and the 
prices paid in this market for unwashed wool. The Californian 
wool, especially that grown in the southern part of the state, 
is filled with grease, dust, and sand. In one case, a fleece 
weighing sixteen pounds was reduced by washing to six 
pounds. The finer the wool, and the farther south it is grown, 
the greater the proportion of dirt. The wool grown in the 
northern part of the Sacramento valley, is cleaner than that 
of Alameda county, and that of the latter place is superior to 
the wool of San Luis Obispo. There are afew Chinese sheep in 
the state, and much value was for a time attached to them, 
because the ewes very frequently produce triplets, but it re- 
quires a good ewe to suckle two lambs well, and twins are 
sufficiently abundant among American sheep. Sheep-growers 
are divided in opinion as to whether the French or Spanish 
Merino be the best sheep for the state. The French Merino 
grows large, and averages more wool to the sheep than any 
other kind, but it is said that the Spanish Merino, though 
smaller, will produce more wool to the acre. About a thou- 
sand sheep are kept in a herd. One sheep-owner in Monterey 
county has 30,000 head; and others have 15,000 and 20,000 
head each. The largest sheep county is Monterey, which has 
about 150,000; Solano has nearly as many, and after these 
come Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Luis Obispo. 
There are about 900,000 sheep in the state, and their number 
is rapidly increasing. One of the drawbacks of wool-growing 
