Port Royal standard and commercial. [volume] (Beaufort, S.C.) 1874-1876, 1876-02-24

coffee mill and coffee pot, frying pan,
tea kettle, a baking kettle, few TIN
plates and tin cups, knives. forks and
spoons, broom, lamp, pile OF blan-
kets, bags of -four, salt and sugar, and
a side of bacon complete the contents OF
a bachelor ranch. I 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 a more extensive scale and have sep
arate rooms for sleeping and cooking;
also sheds for wagons and horses, chlck-
en- coops, and corn cribs for those who
wish to feed their horses, and all have
| corrals made of pickets cut by the Me1i.
cans at two cents apiece, or built OF
rocks from the canyons or logs OF cotton
wood or pine. Some hew down the
pinons and with the brush make impene-
trable corrals.
Sheds are necessary for shearing, and
| dipping pans are valuable acqulsltlon,
since the scab imported with the States
sheep and lice brought in the dry wool
of the Mexican sheep are almost the only
diseases to contend with, and these are
cured by dipping in decoction com,
posed of five pounds of sulphur and
twenty pounds of tobacco, boiled IN one
hundred gallons of water till the strength
of the tobacco is extracted. Sometimes
arsenic is added. This bath is given by
forcing the sheep off platform about
four feet high into the mixture while
warm, and from the bath up an inclined
plane, from which they soon dry In the
sun. Care must be taken that the bath
is not too hot, otherwise it will scald !;
and if to cold, will not take effect. Now
as to the profits of this great interest OF
sheep raising. They lie in the increase,
which is wonderful, the shearlng pay
ing the running expenses OF single
herd, but rendering a good income as
the herd increases Some men buy In
terests in rarge herds, or serve, taking
sheep and lambs in payment: OF their
services. This requires patience and
close attention to the business. The
life is exceeding lonely, and the lsola-
ton to ladies is very trying, servants be-
ing very difficult to get, except Men-
cans, who serve for housework from $l2
to 500 month. They lack industry,
thrift, and neatness. They understand
but little English, and one must learn
their incorrect Spanish to deal with
them. Herding seems to be their avoca-
tion, and for that, if they happen to be
honest, they are admirably adapted.
Their poor relatives are most attentive,
and through them many sheep disappear
when not well watched. Should any
one desire to settle in this country they
can select locality not previously oc-
cupied, or included in any of the large
grants, and take up claim by crossing
four logs. In one the name and date
should be cut, which claim will hold
good for thirty days. At the expiration
of this term they must build house at
least twelve feet square, with door aud
a window. This will hold the claim for
six months. During this period it is
fled upon, and six months from filing a
patent is procured from the government
by paying $1.25 an acre and about $50
fees. ; This is called presumption. In
homesteading the same Improvements
are to be made on ths property, and liv-
ing on it for five years, patent can be
procured from government by paying the
usud Office fees, about $50. In home
steading first, all right is lost to claim
by pre-emption, but by pre-empting
first homestead can be acquired after
ward. Squatters' claims are respect d
as long as they live on the land, custom
having made possession nine-tenths Of
the law.