The sheep need much pasturage, and so the largest flocks are found in the Western and Southwestern states. A single herder may take care of several thousand sheep. His faithful companions and helpers are intelligent shepherd dogs. After a great flock of sheep has fed on an area, hardly a green thing is left. The people in the part of the West where there is little rainfall, object to the pasturing of sheep around the head waters of streams, because when the vegetation is removed the water runs off too quickly. [Illustration: FIG. 14.--Curing Pork in Salt.] In the evening our friends watched the men, women, and children march out of the "yards." They were told that not less than thirty-five thousand persons were employed in the various establishments. There is but one city in Colorado which contains so many people. [Illustration: FIG. 15.--Chopping Sausage Meat.] As they sat at breakfast next morning, Ramon wondered how many of the people of Chicago were eating steaks from cattle which he had seen on his father's ranch. The thought was a new one to him. His trip had shown him that the cattlemen who lived and worked on those far-away plains were doing their part in supplying people all over our country with meat. Their lonely life, with all of its disadvantages, now had a new meaning for him, and he went back to his Western home content with it, yet very glad to have had this glimpse of another side of life. [Illustration: FIG. 16.--Packing Poultry.] MARKET GARDENING Think of the immense quantities of fruits and vegetables that are used daily on the tables of a great city such as New York or Chicago. As we travel up and down the streets of any great city, we see rows of buildings, sometimes built in solid blocks and sometimes a little distance apart. Some have trees and small lawns in front of them; others are without even this touch of nature. Nowhere, except in the outskirts, do we find gardens. _These people depend upon others to furnish them with their vegetable food._ Now let us make some excursions into the region surrounding one of these cities. For miles and miles we see on every hand _truck farms_ or _market gardens_. The main business of those who live in these districts is to furnish food for the people of the city, so that the latter may devote their time to their various occupations. We see growing potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes, beans, peas, squashes, turnips, onions, sweet corn, celery, melons, and many other things. Usually all of these will be found in one garden, but sometimes the farmer raises only a few kinds, or perhaps but one. Market gardening is very common in Germany, Holland, Italy, China, and in other densely populated countries. Therefore we often find people who have come from these countries to America engaged in this business. Chinese gardeners are seldom seen in the East, but on the Pacific coast they raise most of the vegetables used in the cities and towns.