Ellsworth American., 1883-12-20
An Extensive Sheep Range.
HOW EIGHTY THOUSAND SHEEP ARE WASHED
PROFITS OF THE RANCH-1TS OWNER
TO BECOME A RESIDENT OF BOSTON.

TO BECOME A RESIDENT OF BOSTON.
The little schooner Santa Rosa arrived in
mort from Santa barbara few days ayo.
She comes nm tn ,b;. c;,v ,v;ce n vear tn 20
cure proyisions. clotbino. lumber. &c. for
use on Santa Rosa Island. being owned by
the great sheen raiser. A. p. Moore. who
owns the island and the 10000 sheen that
exist upon il. The island is about 80 miles
south of Santa Barbara. and is "a miles in
| length AMI l6 in breadth. and contains about
"a 600 acres Of land which are admirably
adapted to sheen RAISING last June Moore
clipped 1914 sack of wool from these
sheen each sack containing an average Of 4 10
mounds of wool making n total Of 4l5.14O
bounds. which he sold at ~ cents pound.
| bringing him Sll2.349. so. or a clear profit
Of over $50 600 This il said 10 he n low
Weld. so it is evident that sheep raising
there. when taken into consideration that
| shearinp takes place twice wear and that a
n profit il made off the sale of mutton. &c.
| is very profitable. The island is divided in
TO four quarters by fences running clear
across at right angles. and the sheen have
not to be herded like those ranging about
the foothills.
-Four men are employed regularly the
year round to keep the ranch in order and
to look after the sheep. and during shearing
time 80 or more shearers are employed.
These men secure 40 or 80 days' work. and
the average number of sheep sheared day
is about 90 for which ) cents clip is paid,
thus $3.50 day being made by each
man. or something over 5000 for the season.
or over SiOO for 90 days out Of the wear.
Although the shearing Of 90 sheep day is
the average a great many will 90 as high as
no and one man has been known to shear
l25. or course every man tries to shear as
many as he can, and owing to haste, fire.
quently the animals are severely cut by the
sharp shears. If the wound is serious the
sheen Immediately has its throat cut, and is
turned into mutton and disposed Of to the
butchers. and the shearer. if in the habit of
frequently inHictlng such wounds. i, dis
charged. In the sheariny Of these 10000
sheep a hundred or more are injured 10 such
an extent as to neces,itate their being killed
but the wool and meat are Of course turned
into profit
Although no herding is necessary about
200 or more trained goat, are kept on the
island continually. which, to all intents and
purposes. take the place of the shepherd
dogs so necessary in mountainous districts
where sheep are raised Whenever the an
imals are to be removed from one quarter
Of the island to another. the man IN charge
takes out with him several of the goats, ex-
claims in Spanish "Cheva" (meaniug sheep).
The goat. through its training. understands
what is wanted. and immediately run, to the
band and the sheep accept il as their lead
cr. following wherever IL roes The goat
in turn follows the man 10 whatever point
he wishes to take the band TO prevent the
sheep from contracting disease i, is n-ces
sar> to give them a washing twice YEAR.
Moore having 50 many On hand found il
necessary to invent some way to accomplish
this whereh, hot % much expense wouId be
incurred aid time wasted. After expert
menting for some time BE hal ditch dug
eight feet III depth. little over one foot in
width. and 100 feet long. In th, he but
500 gallons Of water. 200 Mounds of IN