Connecticut western news., 1876-02-11
RANCH LIFE IN COLORADO.
Sheep Raising as a Business on the West. .3..;. ern Prairie. ?. j.

RANCH LIFE IN COLORADO.
 Sheep Raising as a Business on the Vest . ....i. ern Prairie. .-: 5. Sheep raising is one of the great in
 terests of Colorado, writes Sun core spondent. Mexican ewes are bought for $1. 75 to $2 per head, and crossed with Cotswolds to increase the size. South Downs and full Merinos are brought from the States to improve the blood and bring the wool up to the finer grades, The grasses of the prairie are nutritious, and the abundance of space allows vast herds to find maintenance without the expense of fencing or cutting hay for. the winter. There are several varieties of grass that follow one another in succession, some curling in the sun, and although brown and dry at the top, remaining full of nourishment. Near Trinidad 8 gentleman found in an acre of prairie sixteen different kinds of grass. The pinons, 8 low species of pine and cedar, grows near the edges of the canyon, and affords protection for the sheep from the storms. In the canyons the sheep find water. These are deep, open seams in the earth, or rock, riven apart ages ago by some mighty convul- sion of nature. They are filled with underbush, evergreens, wild plum trees, and cottonwood, and generally have water holes, and sometimes springs of pure water. In times of long rains, or of snow melting on the mountains, they are found with swift, muddy streams. They are wild and romantic in appearance and of various depths, some even reaching on the rivers 2,000 feet. One man can care for flock of 1000 sheep, but two are required for more than that number-one to super wise, keep the camp, cook, and watch the sheep at night, while the other herds them by day, the latter receiving from $12 to $15 per month and rations, and the former getting from $20 to $25 per month. If the owner cares for lis own sheep he of course saves this an. punt and generally losses less sheep, having the vigilance of ownership.
 Some sheep men spend the larger part, if not all their time in camp, moving wherever the pasture is most inviting, in winter on the prairie and in summer on the mountains or in one of the national parks. AS two men can herd 4,000 sheep as we'll as 2,OO0, the cost of run ming large herds is not proportionately great. More hands are needed in the lambing season. and when shearing is necessary, professed shearers must be hired to cut the fleece. The preference is given to California shearers, they handling the sheep better and shearing closer than Mexicans. The Californian holds the sheep with one hand, between his knees, and shears with the other, while the Mexican ties and throws down the sheep, sitting on them, and fre-. quently cutting the skin. The Mexican gets five cents fleece, the Californian six cents. The average weight of Mexi- can fleece is two and one-half pounds, and sells at from twenty to twenty five cents per pound. The average weight of improved wool per fleece is from three to four pounds, and sells from twenty
 five to thirty cents per pound. There is difference of opinion with regard to shearing sheep before or after the birth of the lambs, which are born in early spring, about May. If shearing takes place after the weather gets hot, the wool, having absorbed much grease, weighs heavier and is therefore more profitable to the seller. Lambs are taken from their mothers in September and formed with the wethers into 8 separate herd, seeking their own main- tenance. They are driven out before or after the sheep in early morning, with a herder, till they are thoroughly weaned,
 requiring about four or five months, when they are again united to the large herd. : .-. 1a 4l... -... -.-- -.-
 The homes of people in this country 1n6 built of logs or adobe and sometimes of both. The adobe is formed of @ peculiar kind of earth, found in the canyons and other localities, and when mixed with cut hay and water forms a mud that hardens with exposure to sun, wind and rain. The process of making adobe mud is usually performed by Mexicans, who cut the hay into short lengths, and beat the whole mass of earth, hay and water with hoe, and also tread it thoroughly with their naked feet. Both men and women apply it to the logs by throwing large handfuls, worked into balls, on the wall, and then smooth it with their hands dirty process, but resulting in an even, flat surface, resembling gray stone, which will, but seldom does, re- ceive 8 coat of whitewash. Another style O1 TbuCu lS 1OTlu0O OI dUODO UTlCkS, C00 mud being mixed in the above manner and burnt in the sun, and being set up like ordinary bricks, the same mud while vet answering the purpose of mortar. The whole, including the roof and chim- ney, is covered with adobe. There are also wooden cottages, with shingle roofs, but they are very expensive, the lumber being hauled by OK teams. The ranch is often composed of only one room, where all the housekeeping fiourishes in the most approved bachelors style, the larger proportion of ranch people being young men seeking their fortunes. They ignore luxuries, and the appointments of the kitchen are marvelously few. A coffee mill and coffee pot, frying pan, 2 tea kettle, baking kettle, few tin plates and tin cups, knives. forks and spoons, a broom, a lamp, a pile of blan- kets, bags of flour, salt and sugar, and a side of bacon complete the contents of a bachelor ranch. might add saddles, spurs, shoes, and other articles of wear, and occasionally pack of cards and a flask of whisky. Some ranches are built on 8 more extensive scale and have sep arate rooms for sleeping and cooking; olcn c1,o o1o &o1s ,;ol-