WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI EIVER. 931 



get a larger per cent of lambs than other sections from the fact that the Pecos Val- 

 ley produces such an abundance of salt grass, regardless of rainfall, that there is 

 always a certainty of having good lambing. Alfalfa is raised to a considerable ex- 

 tent, on which sheep, and particularly rams, do well. 



Thomas Gardner, Seven Elvers, Eddy County: 



My own experience in sheep raising is that five years ago last December I started 

 with 2,000 head of sheep, and I have sold $11,000 worth of sheep and have 3,000 

 head to-day, and my experience is that with proper care sheep raising is more profit- 

 able than any other stock; that if the sheep business is not conducted properly, it 

 is the most losing business there is. 



Hon. ¥. A. Manzanares, Las Vegas: 



The sheep industry in New Mexico has always been a constant and sure source of 

 gain and prosperity, notwithstanding the difficulties attending the care of sheep, in 

 former years, by the merciless ravages of the Navajo and Apache Indians, and lat- 

 terly the restricted and overcrowded ranges; but at present matters and ranges to 

 sheepmen are more satisfactory, and the herds are reduced to a proper number, and 

 we sincerely hope that this useful industry will from this time onward receive the 

 good attention and impetus it deserves, in which event it will bring prosperity to a 

 larger number of people than any other live-stock industry in the Territory. 



Ferd. Meyer, Costilla, Taos County : 



My experience extends only over the San Luis Valley, and it would be very difli- 

 cult to lay down or establish rules for the general guidance of sheep husbandry. 

 We simply make the most of circumstances controlled by a very changeable climate 

 and seasons. We can never profit this or next year from what we know seems to 

 have been previously. As a rule the mountain range is utilized from May to Octo- 

 ber, and the prairies during the winter months, when the snow on the ground en- 

 ables us to reach the midprairie, which, owing to want of water during summer, 

 cannot be pastured over. Large numbers of sheep at fair prices were bought and 

 taken to the border States to feed for market while hay and grain were low. We 

 do not look for buyers for the next twelve months, owing to failure of surplus crops 

 in Kansas in 1890. 



E. F, Hardy, Las Vegas : 



A steady demand for muttons resulted iu bringing buyers from all of the feeding 

 States to New Mexico in search of stock. Seven hundred and fifty thousand head, 

 in round numbers, were sold and driven from the Territory last year. A remarka- 

 ble feature of the trade has been the selling of ewes for breeding purposes to the 

 farmers of Kansas, Iowa, Wyoming, and Minnesota. It has been discovered that 

 the New Mexico sheep are usually hardy and prolific, and for this reason our flocks 

 are purchased as foundations for breeding by the sheepmen of the older States. 

 Importations of sheep this year were limited to the bringing in of a considerable 

 number of fine bucks from Vermont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other States. Num- 

 bers can not be given accurately, but it is evident that our sheepmen are more pro- 

 gressive and are grading up their flocks with the best blood that money can buy. 



Daniel Troy, Eaton : 



The history of the industry for this portion of our Territory for the last fifteen 

 years has shown a steady improvement in the care and quality of our sheep, while at 

 the same time the number of sheep-raisers has been gradually decreased by the 

 closing out of small owners, augmented by the increased demand for mutton sheep 

 for the last three years. In proportion to the improvement in the quality of our 

 Bheep, 80 also is our wool improved in quality and average yield per head, so that tha 



