The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1872-08-22

'"''op, aHu III d StiUuS Niuu pIeSeut tue
appearance of drifting snow, with the dii
ference that on a clear day they are rath-
er warmer than a snow drift.
Stock ranches have to be frequently
removed on account of the sand. The
horses aud cattle in the corrals break the
light turf and loosen the soil, so that the
wind takes up the sand carries it to the
fence. where it is lodged, and in few
years the sand is piled up over the top of
the fence, so that the stock walk in and
out over the top of fence ten or twelve
feet high. AS the fence rots away the
sand is blown away, till it meets another
resistance, perhaps a mat of live oak trees,
| which In their turn are buried alive.
With the exception of this disagreeable
feature OF the country it is good stock
range, aud thousands and tens Of thous-
ands OF fine horses, cattle, mules and sheep
range over the plains keep fat during the
whole year. Aud it is notorious fact
that during the last winter, when more
than halt the cattle between Gaudaloupe
and NecheS rivers died during a cold
sieet storm In January, not ten per cent.
OF those south of the Neches were lost
In this county (Cameron), and in Hidai-
go, Starr, Aapata, Webb, Euciual and
DuVai counties, the mortality during the
winter Is usually small, as there is great
deal OF mesquit timber, which forms Il
good shelter Tor stock against the nor
thers. There are two kinds of grass here
the mesquit grass, which is the better
OF the two, and is coarse grass common
to prairie countries, and the Bermuda
grass, which does we'll spreads rapidly,
and soon Kills ont weeds and the other
grasses. The soil being of porous ma
ture, the roots run down to the depth of
iour aud i've feet in search of moisture
1t thus stands the drouth very well, and
furnishes food for stock when there is no
other fresh grass. When raised in fields
for moving it yields two and three crops
of hay during the summer. There are
some sheep raised in this part of the coun-
try which yield profitable returns for the
amount of money invested and the time
employed in taking care, of them The
dryness of this climate is very favorable
to sheep raising, and the sandy nature of
the soil is eqnaily so. There is no dan
ger OF the loot rot, or other diseases, which
are caused by the feeding of sheep on
land that is soft or muddy. The shcp-
herd can easily keep them out of the pools
of water that arc found during the rainy
season. The disease known as the lom-
briz, which kills SO many young lambs,
has heretofore proved very unfavorable
to sheep raising. This disease is describ-
ed by successful sheep grower as fol-
lows: ''1'hc seat of the lombrz is in the
nav, which, in the last stage, is filled
with myriads of hair like redish brown
worms. From being in a good condition,
the lamb gradually droops and dies in
few weeks. This decadence is some
times more rapid, the nose meanwhile be-
ing white, the eyes dull and the cars
dropping" Many theories have been ad
ranced to account for the lombriz The
most intelligent opinion, however, seems
to be that the worm is a parasite, and
that, like other varieties of worms iu fest
ing animals, it is the product of an egg
deposited by some insect upon the grass
eaten by the lambs. 1t has been the
means of nearly destroying focks, and
also deferred others from engaging in the
business. An efficient remedy has been
found, consisting OF copperas, salt aud sui
phur, in equal parts, well pulverized.-
The does for lamb is from three fourths
to full teaspoon. One or two does are
sufficient, the second one should be at au
interval Of two or three days Mr.. ID. w.
Parrish, of Boerne, Texas, is, | believe,
the discover of the remedy.
The people of this section, a ma ajority
of whom are Mexicans, arc so averse to
labor that they do not raise sheep, for the
reason that they require more attention
and labor than horses or cattle, though
the profits here on sheep raising are much
larger than on other stock. The business
can be counted on as paying fully 50 per
cent. on the capital invested. This is
the estimate made by successful wool
growers in Western Texas Another great
advantage here that the sheep raising has
over that of other stock, is, that the Mexi
can soldiers and citizens do not cross the
Rio Grande, and steal them as they do
horses and cattle. i he mesquit timber
forms very good protection to locks dur
ing cold storms of slect or rain storms,
which, however, are unfrequent here.