The corn and cattle producing districts of France (1878) (14768307912)

Identifier: corncattleproduc00rich (find matches)
Title: The corn and cattle producing districts of France
Year: 1878 (1870s)
Authors: Richardson, George Gibson, 1816-1879
Subjects: Agriculture
Publisher: London New York : Cassell
Contributing Library: Boston Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library



Text Appearing Before Image:
herds provide themselveswith donkeys and goats. The donkeys carry the pro-visions for the journey; the he-goats have each a bell,every bell with a dijfferent sound, and they lead theflocks; the she-goats furnish milk. The collection foreach mountain pasture is called a caravan, and mayconsist of from 20,000 to 40,000 head, divided intoflocks of from 2,000 to 4,000, under the charge of oneshepherd, assisted by large dogs, at the rate of one dogfor every 400 sheep. When all is ready the sheep areexamined, any sickly ones separated from the rest, andthe day and hour of departure fixed. The head-quartersare in the centre of the caravan; the chief shepherd isthere with all the provisions, often requiring a hundreddonkeys to carry them. Every evening the under shep-herds report to the chief the state of the flocks, and 112 SHEEP. progress for tlie day following is ordered according asthe sheep bear the journey more or less well, or as theroad may furnish food and water in more or less abun-
Text Appearing After Image:
rVREXEAX SHEPHERD S DOG. dance. During the first days the progress is at the rateof only five to eight miles a day. The roads must be ingood condition, and the weather very favourable for adistance of as much as twelve to fifteen miles to be SHEEP. 113 covered in any one day. The route followed is a widegrassy track, which has been devoted to this use forcenturies. Every evening during the month that thejourney occupies, the men sleep out in the open air,collecting their sheep together closely. One of theshepherds starts each morning before the general depar-ture to prepare the camping-ground and the food, andone remains behind to settle with the owners of thelands where the flocks have passed the night, and .to payfor any damage that may have been done. The rentpaid for the mountain pasture varies from fivepence tofifteen-pence per head for the season; the cost of wages,food, payment for damage done on the road is generallyone shilling and eightpence per head, and the loss fromdeaths