NEW SNOW COMB DEMONSTRATED

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27410, 24 July 1954, Page 5

NEW SNOW COMB DEMONSTRATED

MR GODFREY BOWEN AT LINCOLN

Probably because of the miserable ‘ weather, fewer farmers than might - have been expected turned up at Lan- ' coin College on Wednesday for the , demonstration by Mr Godfrey Bowen ( of the Wool Board’s new snow comb. It was a thoroughly workmanlike de- < monstration, of which perhaps the most telling point was that the sheep shorn with standard combs during the day were showing obvious signs of feeling the cold, while those shorn with the new combs were not affected. Mr Bowen demonstrated the various stages in the development of the comb, and emphasised that the main problem to overcome was the difficulty of getting the comb to enter the wool easily. This was the principal disadvantage of the different high-shearing combs which have been on the market for some time. His comb was »a development of a fairly successful American comb. The main modifications were that the number of teeth on the comb were reduced to nine, and that the sledges were removed from four of them. Mr Bowen said he believed the comb was now about as good as it was possible to "et it for ease of shearing and for leaving enough wool on. The snow comb would be slower than normal combs, he said, but he would not commit himself on how much slower Ihe though it would be. It would be a lot quicker than blades. Mr Bowen then shore with the new I comb, discussing as he did so the slightly modified technique needed for using it successfully, and, later, members of the audience tried it. A sheep shorn with the new comb was found to give five ounces of wool when shorn again with a standard comb. Mr Bowen explained that he believed it was not only the extra wool left by blades and by the new comb which 1 kept sheep warm, but also the grease that was left on the skin with high shearing. Mr Bowen then ran a new comb over a sheep previously shorn with blades to demonstrate his point that the only wool taken off by the new comb was from the tops of the ridges inevitably left in blade shearing. The new comb, which should be available to farmers in about six weeks, will cost somewhere about 255, about twice the price of a standard comb. As it has fewer teeth, and each unit of cutting edge will have to do more work, it will be necessary to have two combs available for each run. Whether the new comb takes on will depend on runholders being convinced of its usefulness, and on shearers being persuaded to use it. No doubt experience will show how much slower it will be to use, and adjustments in shearing rates made accordingly.