SHEARING.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2073, 15 October 1880, Page 3

SHEARING.

" Few greater errors can be committed in the management of stock," saye an English writer, "than that of too early clipping." He then goes on to state his reasons for this opinion, among the chief of which is that early shorn sheep loose condition. This is a striking example of the mistakes which may be made by anyone following directions written, and intended for application in a oountry different from that in which he lives, and also shows the necessity of our farmers recording their experience for the benefit of one another, and of those who have not had opportunities for observation in this country, for, instead of the above quotation holding good here, as in England, it is generally found in our own case that early-shorn sheep thrive by far the best; that those shorn jn November are, other things being equal, in a better condition at the beginning of winter than those shorn in January. Late-shorn sheep suffer much from heat during the summer, and this retards their improvement in condition, and if hoggets also their growth, much more than any cold they might feel from being deprived of their fleeces early in the season. This, of course, applies with greater force to long-woolled sheep than to merinos. Our climate is so capricious that late shearing is by no means a sure precaution against severe weather, for wo are as liable to get a sou'-wester in the last month of summer as in the first. A cold rain immediately after shearing sometimes occasions considerable mortality in a flock, but the danger is only for the first two or three days. On runs, sheep have to take their chance, but on farms encircled and sub-divided by gorso hedges, the danger may, in a great measure, be obviated by making the flock keep to the sheltered side of the field. Merinos usually drift away from shelter, being of too wild a nature to appreciate the value of a hedge, not having acquired the hereditary sagacity of crossbreda, whioh prompts them to take advantage of an artificial break-wind.

The bulk of our wool is sent Home in the grease, many of our sheep farmers not having the necessary water supply for washing within their reach, and where water is available it is not often taken advantage of for that purpose. There is a pretty widely spread opinion that the additional price reoeived for washed wool does not counterbalance the expense of washing, and the loss of weight incurred in the operation. It is somewhat doubtful however whether this view of the matter can be borne out by faots. Cold water washing does not in any way injure the quality of the wool, but merely cleanses it from impurities, which form a large portion of the weight of an unwashed fleece. The question is whether it answers the purpose of the wool grower to pay for packing, • cartage, commission, freight, &c, on the dirt and grease existing in unwashed wool, those substances having no market value. They command no price at home, therefore it is not easy to see how it can pay to send them there. Sheep washing is not an operation that entails the employployment of much labor and the use of elaborate machinery, but is such a simple process that it may be performed almost as cheaply here as in England. Wool fetches its market value whether it is washed or not, and it is only the wool that the manufacturer buys. Those whom he entrusts to purchase for him are adepts in their trade; indeed, there are very few wool-sorters who attain the skill which is necessary to qualify them to attend the wool sales in London, for they must be able to make a valuation to a fraction per cent. So close is the competition among manufacturers that, in the normal state of the markets, their profits are reduoed to a minimum, and there is, therefore,'' no room for loose buying. Every bale is thoroughly sampled, and the buyers understand their business too well not to allow sufficient margin for the grease and dirt it contains. It is a mistake for the grower to imagine that he gets paid anything for the worthless substance contained in the wool, or that duo allowance is not made for their absence. It has been ascertained that [wool whioh has been thoroughly washed on the sheep's baok may be put to the macbinory without any further cleansing, and that it works up more economically and satisfactorily than the scoured article. But such complete washing is not often practicable, as some time must intervene between washing and shearing, and the difficulty would be to keep the wool from contracting impurity during that period and in the process of clipping. Pew colonial farmers aim at such perfection in their operations ; a moderate degree of excellence satisfies most of them. A good supply of clean soft water is the ohief requisite for suocesful sheep-washing. The water should not contain lime, for where this substance or. any of its compounds are present, they unite with the saponaceous yolk, |thus forming insoluble matter, and rendering the process of washing to some extent ineffectual. The length of time that should elapse between washing and shearing must of course depend very much upon the state of the atmosphere. The yolk must be allowed to rise so far as to give the wool its natural silky feel, but more yolk is secreted in one hot day than in two or three cold ones. Classing and packing the wool are matters of some importance, and have a material effect upon the price. A small flockowner cannot employ a professional wool-classer, and, at any rate, it would scatoely be advisable for

a man with a few hundred sheep to make several different samples; but he would find it to his interest not to pack in the same bale fleeces of a markedly different quality. When different classes of wool are paoked together, the manufacturer has to buy a class of wool that he does not want in order to obtain that portion which meets his requirements, and under such circumstances the prices cannot but suffer. A fleece of wool is the production of a whole year, and it is surely worth the farmer's while to send it it to market in the most saleable form. Any extra trouble taken in this way will not be thrown away. Care should be taken not to break the fleeoes, for when they are mixed up the process of sorting is rendered more difficult, a consideration of some importance, and one which does not fail to affect the price. Now that so large a number of sheep are kept on the farms, the style in which the wool is got up for shipment must exercise a material influence on tho welfare of the country at large, and it must be admitted that there is great room for improvement. At the present day such matters are left to be regulated by the self-interest of the people, but our forefathers would have stepped in with a legislative enaotment. Some very amusing instances have ocourred of attempting to effect industrial improvements by the strong arm of the law, as, for example, when it was ordered by Parliament in the reign of Charles 11. :—" That none forestall the mercat of wool, nor keep the same to a dearth, and that for avoiding the deceit of putting stones or like stuff therein, no wool be wrapped up in the fleece, under the pain of confiscation, half to the King and half to the informer." Our sheep farmers now-a-days would scarcely think such an Act complimentary.