Lyon County times. [volume] (Silver City, Nev.) 1874-1907, 1875-09-07
TAHOE SKETCHES.
WOOD AND SHEEP

WOOD AND SHEEP.
Since the Emancipation procla-
nation, little thought has been
given by the press to this staple
article of the Pacific Coast. 1t is
therefore presumable that the
statement of tue wool export of
California will be news to some of
our readers. Nevada is too busily
engaged in the extraction of the
precious metals, to bother her head
about mutton, and what grows on
it, only as she buys it in quarters,
and wears it out in good clothes;
but to California the sheep interest
and wool growing ranks as the
third interest in the State.
BULLION, WHEAT AND WOOL
Are the leading products. In the
production of the former, Califor-
MIA stands at the head of the States
and Territories; as producer and
exporter of wheat, she has few
superiors, and in the growing and
expectation of wool, she leads the
van. Aside from the amount of
this article which her factories an
nually wind and twist up in cloths,
over
THIRTEEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
worth is yearly shipped from her
harbors and railroad depots. Much
of interest could be said descrip-
tive of the manner in which the
large herds of sheep are bred, at
tended and sheared, if lengthy
article was desirable. California
sheep undergo the shearing pro-
cess twice each year-early in the
Summer and late in the Fall
while in the Eastern States one
clip is the limit of the years crop
of wool. From Mr.. J. III. Miller,
of Latrobe, Cal, who has at pres
ent a band of
SIX THOUSAND SHEEP
Ranging fow miles back of Lake
Tahoe, and another band of 1900
near Truckee, we have learned the
following facts Two clips are
made each year to prevent the
sheep from getting diseased by
"scab." No sheep are washed
before shearing. the wool being
sold at lower price than
washed wool. With the two clips,
the average sheep will yield eight
pounds of wool-a fleece much
larger than is usually. taken by
Eastern raisers at
ONE CLIP PER YEAR.
The present price of good fair
stock ewes is about 81 per head,
and for ordinary wethers. to be
killed for the market, S1.50 to
$3.50. His herd is kept during the
summer months on the Tahoe
range, and with the approach Of
winter is driven back again to the
cold weather range near Latrobe.
We also noticed another band of
over 1000 head on Blackwood
Creek, three miles from McKin-
ney's Tahoe resort These two
herds supply the
MARKETS ABOUT THE LAKE,
And produce some of the latest and
finest mutton we have ever seen on
the hooks. OF course tins vicinity
consumes but paratively few,
and the great bulk OF mutton is
shipped by rail to the San Francisco
markets. The ordinary observer
who never travels much through
the hills which surround the lake,
would never dream of the fine graz
ing lands in the vicinity, but once
back from the heavily timbered
shore and the grand old mountains
smile down upon some of the pretti-
est
GRASS COVERED WALES
One would wish to see. A wild
blue-joint and dwarf timothy is the
staple feed for the herds, and irrigat-
ed by the melting SHOWS of Winter,
springs up fresh and green and
makes delicious bite for its wool
producing herds. Few coarse wool
sheep are bred, the rule being
thoroughbred and graded merinos.
The mutton is of less weight, but
this is more than counterbalanced
by the superior quality of wool
produced. Lack or space must
bring our sketch to a close, tn ough
the subject deserves a much more
extensive comment.
THE New koAD.-I'hc subscrip-
tons to the Dayton and Columbus
Road at this writing amount to 3d.