64 



Sheep in Oregon. 



The Sheep Industry of Oregon. 



A bulletin recently issued by the United States Department 

 of Agriculture contains some interesting details of the sheep 

 grazing industry in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. It 

 appears that the first domesticated sheep were brought into 

 Oregon from California in 1843, but' from that year until i860 

 sheep raising was only a small industry. About the latter 

 date, however, wool began to assume considerable importance 

 in the region as an agricultural product, and during the next 

 thirty years the number of sheep kept in the State steadily 

 increased. The growth of the industry may be judged 

 from the following statement : — 



Year. 



Number of 

 Sheep. 



Value. 



Pounds of wool 

 produced. 



1870 - 

 1880 - 

 1890 - 



1895 - - - 



1896 - 



1897 - 



500,000 

 1,265,100 

 2,929,830 



2,529,759 

 2,630,949 

 2,604,640 



£ 



197,900 

 384,800 

 1,171, 300 

 613,700 

 748,100 

 720,700 



lbs. 

 1,080,638 

 5,718,524 

 9,982,910 

 12,038,091 



The sheep consist for the most part of w^hat are known as 

 " range sheep," that is, animals pastured or grazed on the 

 great areas of unfenced public or Government land. Sheep 

 thus maintained are placed under the charge of a herder 

 each herder being entrusted with as many sheep as he can 

 properly manage, commonly from two to three thousand. 

 Such an aggregation of range sheep is called a "band." 



An account is given in the bulletin of the origin of the 

 present grazing system in Oregon. Twenty years ago, the 

 sheep that were owned on the treeless plains of eastern 

 Oregon, at points remote from the forest-covered mountains, 

 were pastured in autumn, winter, and spring, just as they 

 now are, upon the open range ; but during the hot and dry 

 summer months, when on the summits of the plateaux the 

 grass was dead, water for the sheep wanting, and the heat 

 oppressive, it became imperative that the sheep should 

 be kept in the deep rock-walled canons forming the drainage 

 channels of the region. Here were found water, fresh grass. 



