WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI EIVEK. 927 



owner should provide water by means of tanks, reservoirs, or artesian 

 wells, whicliever is the most feasible. Eeservoirs are easily constructed 

 at the head of a ravine or in some other natural location, by which a 

 large area of water is stored up for use instead of going to waste. 

 These reservoirs conserve the water from the melted snow and rain, 

 and enable the farmer and stock-raiser to utilize it for their needs dur- 

 ing the hot dry season. The writer knows of an extensive sheep-owner 

 that has twenty of these simply constructed reservoirs on his grazing 

 lands, and their first cost is insignificant compared to their permanent 

 value. 



In many portions of the Territory artesian wells may be sunk ad- 

 vantageously and furnish flowing water in abundance. The great difii- 

 culty in securing these necessary and valuable improvements and con- 

 veniences is the cost in time and money, together with the land laws, 

 which discourage improvements of this kind and interfere with owner- 

 ship or control of the land. In addition to these difflculties, the dispo- 

 sition of the flockmaster in the past has been averse to putting any 

 money into the business except for stock alone. It is gratifying to 

 note that representative sheepmen are aware of the importance of 

 these improved methods of management. 



It is a difficult matter to lay down or establish rules for the general 

 guidance of sheep husbandry in the Territory, owing to the prevailing 

 conditions and concomitant circumstances, which have a controlling 

 effect; and the changeable climate and seasons in different portions of 

 New Mexico have to be taken into consideration. As a rule, however, 

 the mountain ranges are utilized from May to October and the prairies 

 and mesas or plains during the winter. In brief, the best methods ap- 

 plicable to any portion of the Territory are, to rid the flock of scab, 

 kill the wild animals, keep fewer and better sheep, use better bucks, 

 dispose of undesirable ewes to the feeders, give the sheep better care, 

 employ reliable and competent help, and provide all the necessary 

 shelter, water, feed, and salt. In general, improve on the past tradi- 

 tional customs as practical judgment dictates, and there need be no 

 apprehension or misgivings as to the permanence, profitableness, or 

 future of the sheep industry of New Mexico. 



NUMBER AND VALUE OF SHEEP. 



It has been quite difficult to obtain any reliable data from the Terri- 

 torial records of New Mexico by which the exact number of sheep 

 owned in the dififerent counties of the Territory can be computed. The 

 reports of the assessors are wholly unreliable as to exact numbers, 

 and therefore had no consideration in making up this estimate. But, 

 taking the lowest reliable estimate of the wool clips of 1890 of 9,000,000 

 pounds, which, at an average of 3 pounds per head, would give us 

 3,000,000 of sheep shorn during 1890, and to this number adding 

 the number of lambs raised during the year would augment the num- 



