WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVEE. 791 



The shearing season in Colorado usually takes place during June or 

 July. The preliminary preparations for this work are very simple. A 

 few loose planks are placed on the ground either in the sheds or in the 

 corral, and enough sheep are brought in from the range for a day's work 

 for the gang of shearers. These are generally Mexicans, especially in 

 southern Colorado, or expert California shearers, who command higher 

 wages, as they are more rapid and skillful. The shearers receive from 

 4 to 6 cents per fleece tied up. The wool is immediately sacked and 

 disposed of as soon as possible. The local buyer generally gets the 

 clip if his prices are at all satisfactory, otherwise it is consigned to East- 

 ern commission merchants in St. Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, or Bos- 

 ton. The bulk of the wool produced grades as " fine," " fine medium," 

 or " medium," and in southern Colorado some coarse wool is produced. 

 The grower received from 11 to 15 cents net last year. The cost of 

 marketing is from 3 to 5 cents per pound. The weight of the improved 

 sheep's fleece averages from 5 to 10 pounds, while the half and quarter 

 blood makes only from 2 to 5 pounds. The average fleece of flocks 

 owned by Mexicans, or the large holdings of the same class of sheep by 

 Americans, produce an annual clip of 3J pounds, while the improved 

 sheep will clip an average fleece of about 7 pounds. 



The best market for the wool is ordinarily at home, to the local buyer, 

 or to the representatives of Eastern houses who visit the ranches dur- 

 ing the shearing season. The best markets for sheep that are fit for 

 slaughter are the local markets, such as Denver, Pueblo, and the Jiiin- 

 ing camps and mountain towns. This demand usually exceeds the sup- 

 ply, owing to the fact that feeders from the corn-growing States contract 

 for so many of the mature wethers that this double demand, while it 

 keeps the local market short, results in giving the sheepman the top 

 prices, a benefit which he appreciates in view of the low price for wool. 



In addition to the sale of wethers, Colorado sheepmen are having 

 many calls for stock sheep to go to Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa, so that 

 now most of the sheepmen annually dispose of from 15 to 30 per cent of 

 their flocks. Most of these stock sales are made in the fall. Lambs 

 are sold from $1 and upwards, ewes from $2.40 to $3, and the wethers 

 bring from $3 to $3.50. These are prices realized at the ranch for or- 

 dinary sheep, and do not apply to highly improved animals. The aver- 

 age live weight of improved sheep sold for mutton is from 85 to 100 

 pounds, while the Mexican wethers range from 50 pounds and upwards. 



The average expense per sheep a year varies, of course, in the differ- 

 ent counties. Free or leased range, winter shelter, feed, and other ex- 

 penses enter into the account, which makes it difficult to approximate 

 a uniform cost. The estimates given the writer by representative sheep- 

 men of the different counties vary from 50 cents to $1 per head. Some 

 estimate that $500 will cover the annual expenses of a flock of 1,500 

 sheep. The wages paid to herders is $20 to $30 per month, exclusive 

 of board. 



