Daily Los Angeles herald., 1882-01-12
Suggestions to Sheep Men and
BY n. M. JOHNSTON.

to me by observations in my trav-
els last summer, in Texas, will, IL
published, benefit hundreds OF my
fellow stock-raisers: That of re-
moving the large surplus of sheep
now in this and ether southern
counties to New Mexico and Texas.
[ found that sheep were very
high all through Texas, prices be.
ing about the same in the extreme
west and eastern parts of the State;
common New Mexican sheep
sheariDg about four pounds of wool
per annum, bringing from So to
So. so per head; ak to seven pound
fieeced sheep, from 81 to SIS; eight
to ten pound fleeces from Sc to SIS
per head, and ready sale at these
prices. 1t is very rare to find In
that country band of sheep that
viii! clip eight pounds per head, the
majority being five pound feeces.
We,he,s bring from So so to So so
for mutton, without regard to the
amount of wool to be gotten off
their backs. Wool sold at 22}
cents per pound when 1 was there,
and was told it was about the
average price, one year with an.
other.
Ranges OF the finest quality can
be had for mere song, either from
the railroad companies or from pri-
v.te land holders. First.class
mes quite grass land can be bought
ut from $3.50 to SIS per acre all
along the Texas.Pacific Railway
from Ell Paso almost to Houston.
The cost of berding, etc., is about
as 1t is here. In fact, found that
the "sheepmen" of Texas were
making money in the business as
fast as we used to do in 187I.72;
q nd as there are no burs in the feed
there, as here, the wool will al
ways command better price than
that of California.
The climate is colder in winter,
and the sheep require some protec-
ton from n0rthers, such as the lee
side of q belt of timber or bushy
brake in the plains; and whilst
some would be luat on account of
severe weather, l doubt ii the loss
from that cause would be 20 per
can't. of the loss from starvation If
kept here.
My plan of getting them there
would be to ship train load of
sheep from here rs far as they
could go without food, say twenty
four hours run; take them off the
cars aud let them feed and rest
day and night; at the end of that
time land another train load of
sheep to rest and feed and re-ship
band No. for another run to some
point east of the Pecos river, and
so on, keeping up continuous
stream of sheep, as it We're, at the
same point giving each ample time
to feed and rest Oh the road.
The objective point ought to be
somewhere east of the Pecos river,
GU the other side of the Indian
Country, say as far as Abilene,
where magnificent ranges can be
obtained If the parties desire to
continue in the business there; Ii
the object be to sell, the purohas-
ers Will be found by simply driv.
ing east all the way from Abilene
to Dallas.
The business should commence
immedi ately, rs every day sheep
Is KEPT here now, the weaker it
gete, aud the less able 1t will be to
stand the punishments on the cars.
Ii the railroa l company will sell
double deck CARS for the sheep at,
say, $3.50 the car, l am sure the
sheep men will be warranted In
shipping every animal, and their
threatened ruin will be turned into
q bonanza for them.
The sheep having been disposed
of, il every farmer owning irriga-
BILE or moist land will Immediate
Iy SOW it to small grain, either for
grain or hay, and after harvesting
put it into corn, every COW, horse
ard hog in thv county will go
through the season In good plight,
and we will have surplus Of both
grain and hay to sell to our neigh.
bors, thereby showing to our East.
ern friends that drouth in Los
Angeles county has none of the
terrors it has iu any other country,
and that one acre OF irrigable land
is easily worth double what it can
be bong bit for at present.
I believe that il everybody will
recognize the fact that We are in
the midst of the worst drouth ever
known in Southern California, and
act accordingly; i e., go to work
and irricate and plant every avail
able piece of land and let dry lands
alone this year, that We will make
such showing that all our lands
will double their present value by
next spring. 1t is safe to say We
can raise a crop of email grain on
our dry land five times out CT six.
T doubt whether the best farmed
lands east OF the Rocky mountains /
can make as safe showing. When
our drouth comes, all we have to
do ia to irrigate In winter as well
as summer, raise q crop Of hay and
harvest 1t; in May or June irrigate
the same land again, seed 1t to
corn and pumpkins, and we have a
| double crop, reimbursing US to q
great extent for the failure OF the
grass and small grain. Now they
| have no such recourse in the East
ern States, and l believe that when
we show them that, no matter how
severe the drouth, it only means