WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI EIVEE. 805 



fed alfalfa hay have no idea what an excellent feed it makes. In con- 

 versing with dairymen near Salt Lake City they invariably said: "No, 

 we do not want ensilage to feed our cows; it is not as good as alfalfa 

 hay, or as easily and cheaply fed." 



GENERAL FACTS ABOUT SHEEP HUSBANDRT. 



The class of sheep in Utah is mainly of the Merino type, and as the 

 large French Merino rams are the principal ones used, the good effects 

 are seen in the increased size of the carcass, and in the length and 

 fineness of staple, so that it is safe to say that the average clip will 

 run from 5 J to 6 J pounds. While the average weight of fleeces in Utah 

 is a little below that of the principal Western States or Territories, her 

 average shrinkage is 55 per cent, and is from 10 to 15 per cent less than 

 the shrinkage in other States ; hence the price paid for Utah wool is 

 proportionately higher. 



There are not very many flock-owners in southern Utah who shear 

 twice a year, as it hardly pays. The usual time of shearing runs from 

 the middle of April to the middle of June. During this season there 

 are gangs of men who make a business of going from flock to flock to 

 do the work. The sheep are often driven into a corral for shearing. 

 A man that can not shear 100 sheep or more in a day is not wanted in 

 the gang. They usually begin work early in the season at the south, 

 working north, ending in the northern Territories late in July, when 

 they return south again for the second or fall clipping. 



Utah is a great field for the wool commission men of St. Louis, Chi- 

 cago, Philadelphia, and Boston. They have their agents out soliciting 

 consignments as soon as the shearing season opens. This brings the 

 buyer right to the door of the Utah wool-grower, yet some of the larger 

 flockowners ship their wool on their own account, and still others ship 

 through their local wool-growers' associations. There is a Territorial 

 Wool-growers' Association, besides several county aad local associa- 

 tions. At liTephi, in Juab County, the Utah Wool-growers' Company has 

 a membership of about seventy-five, representing some 400,000 sheep. 

 It has built a large warehouse, and buys the wool direct from its mem- 

 bers or ships it and sells it for thejn. Until the past year Nephi has 

 been the principal wool market for central and southern Utah. Now 

 the bulk of the trade is at Salina, a little farther south, and the termi- 

 nus of an extension of the Eio Grande and Western Eailroad. 



The breeding season is during November and December. The aver- 

 age number is about 3 rams for 100 ewes, yet some run 2 to 100. 

 The rams are often permitted to run with the flock until spring, unless 

 the owner has a good place to keep them or herd them separately. A 

 very few are using Shropshire rams, others Southdowns or Cotswolds, 

 but the majority use the French and Spanish Merino and their grades. 

 Of late years more attention has been given to the selection of well- 

 bred rams to use on the range flocks, and the good results are notice- 



