920 SHEEP INDUSTRY OE THE UNITED STATES 



It is estimated by men couversant with the subject that from 1876 

 to 1878 there were anmially driven out of New Mexico to Wyoming, 

 Kansas, and l>rebraska 350,000 head of sheep. This annual drive rather 

 increased in number than otherM'ise until 1883 to 1885, when the num- 

 ber reached nearly 1,000,000 head per annum, driven principally to 

 Texas. At that time cattle were considered the best investment, and 

 sheep-raisers disposed of their herds in order to go into the cattle busi- 

 ness. The average price realized for the sheep, which were all Mexi- 

 can, was $1.50 per head. 



GENERAL FACTS ABOUT THE INDUSTRY. 



To secure reliable data concerning the details of the sheep industry 

 has been a task of more than ordinary diflSculty, for the reason that so 

 many of the iiockmasters actually engaged in this pastoral occupation 

 care very little about literature of this or any other kind unless it is in 

 the Spanish language, and even then it is doubtful whether they would 

 take sufficient interest to cooperate with any representative of the 

 Bureau unless he was conversant with the Spanish language. Owing 

 to the general indifference, unwillingness, and too often the inability 

 of the Mexican flockmaster, the writer had to rely mainly on the Ameri- 

 can sheep-owners, together with a few of the public-spirited and edu- 

 cated Mexicans, for the information iiresented in this report. 



It is a recognized fact worthy of note that the success achieved in 

 the way of improvement of the native sheep by the American grower 

 has had a stimulating influence on the Mexican sheep-owner. He has 

 been incited to emulate the example of bis more skillful and enterprising 

 American neighbor, who has realized higher j)rices for his wool as well 

 as for his wethers. This success has induced many native sheep-owners 

 to use better bucks as well as to improve their methods of sheep hus- 

 bandry. The native Mexican makes progress slowly, but there is no 

 doubt that in the future he may become a fairly prosperous sheep- 

 owner, although he may be a decade or so behind the more progressive 

 American flockmaster. The Mexican flockmaster possesses some pecu- 

 liar advantages over the American. He is by nature better adapted 

 to the isolated pastoral pursuit than the American, because of the tra- 

 ditions and customs of his ancestry, hence the life of tending the flocks 

 is a natural occupation which he is contented to follow. Again, he 

 wUl handle the flocks with very much less expense than the American. 

 The Mexican is naturally conservative and deliberate. He should not 

 be called lazy or indifterent; for it is an accepted fact or maxim in the 

 West that a lazy or indifferent flockmaster is a failure in connection 

 with the sheep industry, and it cannot be truthfully said that the Mex- 

 icans as a class are failures. In respect to cheapness of handling sheep 

 and adaptation by nature as well as choice to the business, the Mexi- 

 can has the advantage and will unquestionably remain an important 

 and necessary adjunct to the sheep industry of New Mexico, either as 



