Arizona citizen., 1874-09-19
THE CITIZEN.
SA TURDAY SEPTEMBER l9, 1874.
ABOUT SHEEP AND WOOL.

AS number of our readers are now en-
 gagged in the sheep business and more in-
 tend to enter into it, we keep lookout for
 valuable information bearing upon the
 subject. Following are some extracts
 from The Los Angeles Star of September 5:
 The importance of the wool growing
 interests of Los Angeles county may be
 inferred from the fact that in 1867 the
 Assessors books returned 140, 7U0 as the
 number of sheep in the county, while in
 1874, the number returned amounts to, in
 round nun bers, half million. Deducting
 twenty per cent. from the average yield of the flock which, with the ranch upon
 which they are herdcd, will be the subject of this article, and the wool clip of the county will amount to over 4,000, ,000 pounds. One of the most thoroughly and systematically managed sheep ranches of the country, is that ot J. BiXby & Co | known as "CerI itos," or "Little Hill It is what is known as five-league ranch, embracing about 25, 900 acres, nearly equal 1 ly divided into mesa, or upland, and bot tom land.
 Mir. J. BiXby, the manager of this eXten- sive estate, has been engaged in the bu6i- l ness of sheep-raising fer seventeen years | He has at present about 30, GOO sheep on the ranch, 25,O00 of which belong to the | company, and are all Spanish Merinos they average ten rounds of wool each | year, there being two shearings, the Spring | and Fall. Forty shearerS are employed, | besides about twenty other men to assist in various ways tying up the feeces, bal 1 ing and herding. The shearers are, for the most part, native Californians, and | receive five cents per fleece for their work | man shears from forty 10 eighty head | per day. They receive from "the head | man," as each fleece is thrown over the | counter, check representing a five cent | piece.
 Shearing over, the work of "dipping' l for the sCab commences. A tank, hold | ing several hundred gallons, is partially | filled with wash of tobacco and sulphur | The sheep are driven in at one end, and | pushed Tn, sinking head and all and are | allowed to remain a few moments when | they pass out upon an inclined platform, | off ot which they are driven when dry | enough, and allowed to range the pasture | free for the next six months. Mir. BiXby | has just purchased a large boiler, and will | hereafter prepare his sheep wash by steam ing the tObOccO, process which will be | a large saving in the matter, both of time | and expense. There are ten artesian wells | upon the ranch, ranging from 100 to 2l5 | feet in depth. Some Ol them have flowed | for seven years without any dimnutiOn | of volume. No particular estimate of the amount of water flowing from either | of them has been made, but one of them | furnishes a stream which flows for nearly | four miles. . It is doubtful, whether any other tract l extent could be purchased now 1 upon terms which would make in profit | able investmentfo for shcep-raising purposes. | The time is not very far distant when only 1 such tracts as cannot be irrigated will be | relied or for natural pasturage, for either sheep or cattle in this section of country. The rapid influx of population is demand ing and causing the partition and segrega- ti0n of these large ranches. Anintelligent | husbandry of all the sources and supplies of water will very soon take the place of the present shiftless and wasteful mode of Experiment and observation leaves no doubt that one acre of alfalfa will pasture ten graded sheep, and that the wool so produced will be finer in tex ture and far cleaner than any now raised, and as a matter of course will com mand higher price.