792 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



The local advantages for sheep husbandry in Colorado are the cheap 

 or free ranges, the cool, dry, and healthful climate, the ability of the 

 State under irrigation to produce the supply of winter feed when neces- 

 sary, the freedom from disease, the nutritious grasses which cure before 

 frost comes and enable sheep to graze most of the year. The area of 

 free range is large and can be utilized all of the year except in winter, 

 when the flocks are supposed to be located on the home ranch or farm, 

 where the winter supply of feed is stored. The water is always pure, 

 cool, and abundant, if not always convenient. In most portions of the 

 State where stock is held in winter there is natural shelter. The country 

 seems naturally better adapted to sheep than to other domesticated 

 animals. They are uniformly healthy, and there seems to be a con- 

 stant immunity from the usual affections of sheep located in the more 

 humid regions, such as foot-rot, ticks, maggots, and worms. There is 

 always hkely to be a good home market for mutton in the cities and 

 towns, and throughout the mountain country generally. Sheepmen 

 have the advantage of competing lines of railroads for shipping from 

 Denver or Pueblo. 



In every portion of the State where sheep are held there are of course 

 obstacles and difficulties to be encountered. Those that are enumerated 

 here do not all apply to any one county, put are intended to cover the 

 State. Briefly mentioned they are as follows : Droughty summers and 

 consequent shortage of winter feed, exorbitant freight rates, low prices 

 for the average wools, absence of running water on the range and great 

 depth of wells, expensive building and fencing materials, high rates of 

 interest, limited range in some counties, poisonous weeds, such as loco, 

 animal depredations, incompetent shepherds, high wages, no corn crops, 

 insufficient cheap hay, low prices of wool, inability to control free range 

 from traveling herds or "floaters," occasional snowy winters, would-be 

 farmers and homesteaders occupying the Government land, severe 

 winter storms or blizzards. These constitute the principal ills of the 

 Colorado floekmaster. 



Disease of any kind among sheep in Colorado is practically unknown. 

 Scab is the only affection that has been at all prevalent, and that is 

 pretty well eradicated or well under control, and is of little further 

 consequence. An occasional case of tapeworm was reported in the 

 counties of Las Animas, Lincoln, and Arapahoe. 



The sheep business in Colorado, generally speaking, has recently re- 

 covered from a decline, and in most counties may be said to be in a 

 fairly prosperous condition at present, with a bright outlook for the 

 future, providing there is no further tariff agitation and the country 

 does not become too thickly settled again, as it was in 1886 in what is 

 known as the "rain belt" in eastern Colorado, where so much of the 

 land was taken up by homesteaders and since largely abandoned after 

 a few years of failure in cropping, meantime keeping out stockmen. 

 The prevalence of scab some years ago also had a demoralizing influence 



