SHEEP-FARMING IN THE WEST. 109 



and the production of South America exceeds the whole 

 consumption then. 



Our own country is not without some remarkable 

 increases, as is shown by Iowa, which had in 1859 

 258,288 sheep, and in 1879 she had 2,332,241. If the 

 sheep-trade on the Plains increases as rapidly as the 

 cattle-trade has (and there is no apparent reason why it 

 should not), there will soon be in the pasturages along 

 the Union Pacific Railroad alone 1,000,000 head. The 

 cost of bringing sheep to Nebraska, Colorado, Wyom- 

 ing, and Montana from New Mexico is about $2 per 

 head. Shepherds can be hired at from $30 to $40 per 

 month, and one man can attend about 3000 head. Wool 

 has been carried by railroad from San Francisco to Bos- 

 ton for $ 1.10 per 100 pounds. Double-decked sheep- 

 cars, carrying 200 sheep, can be had from the base of 

 the mountains to Chicago markets for $150, thereby 

 putting fat wethers in market at 75 cents per head ; 

 dressed mutton carcasses are delivered from the Rocky 

 Mountains in New York at $1.75 per hundred, car- 

 load rates. 



The principal sheep-owners in the West, with the 

 number of sheep in their herds, are as follows : Moore 

 Brothers, Sydney, Nebraska, 15,000 ; A. M. Munson, 

 Greeley, Colorado, 5000; Mr. Bailey, South Platte, 

 3000 ; Hutton, Alsop & Creighton, Laramie, Wyom- 

 ing, 13,000 ; Carters & Co., Plains, 3000 ; J. W. H. 

 Iliff, Colorado, 10,000; Amigo Brothers, Colorado, 

 50,000 ; Hollester & Co., Utah, 20,000 ; Willard Clark 

 & Co., Laramie Plains, 3000 ; Rumsey & Co., Laramie 

 Plains, 2000; E. M. Post, Cheyenne, 5000 j Ballen- 



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