WOOL-WASHING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 95, 26 October 1868, Page 258

WOOL-WASHING IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

(From the South Australian Register.) . We are glad to find that amongst the large .'sheep formers of South Australia are some who intend not to be outdone in enterprise by the squatters of the neighboring colonies.-. . The advantages deriveddEroin-the use of complete apparatus for scouring the wool on large ‘stations ih ; :Victoria have been so" fttr ' recognised, -as to provoke a healthy emulation in this colony. A gain of a shilling or two on every shehp must prove a potent argument iii favor of the, new . processes .which have been,recently, brought in a prominent way ,before the public. The scouring of the wool on the sheep’s back is not an 'imaginary improveiheiit on the. old' methods ; . it is supported by ; the convincing argument of' actual .results, That its effects are satisfactory may be at once learned by a glance • at the prices realised for the article thus prepared in .Victoria, and by. . the .. te.sti tunny, s of men who have .tried both'systems. - -jftjmon’gskthose'in - South;' Australia u'pdn wlidin 'fhe'testimony has. produced the£mbst -: practicaleffects are ,-Alessrs" H. B. Hughes* H.;S. Trice, and.Eardley Hey wood. The-first; outlay ds, no doubti.considerable ,yb’uf so'convinced are they fhis;.istiie ! ! most mical>course'top.ursuejthat:the}'are: .now. {engaged in proeuring for theif stations :thb {{piahtlfforrenab-; ffng^.ihein.i^ plans.for-the guidance of- the workmen thatVtke

the sanie 'described in jour recentar washii%.” First of all, the sheeprare "enclosed in JaxgiC'’ £edt pf:£onfm 3-000. WOpening upon. : this is a smaller yardy or pen, with: a capacity. for some - 300 sheep. - Ati one side is a decoy •pen, 3 ; terrainating: ina' square wooden platform,' upon, which. about a score of sheep can .stand a. time./ At the end of this stage .is a tank, or bath, filled. with warm water of an even temperature of about 100 degrees. It is built of stone, lined with concrete and its dimensions, are 30 feet .long. 4 feet; wide, and 4 feet deep. The bottom of it Is sunk sufficiently far in the ground to enable the'men who are stationed by the side to perform ; with,facility , their task of catching the sheep as they arrive.at the edge of the platform., and throwing them into the water. The bath ,is divided into, two equal parts-by a -.moveable partition, and from, eighteen to twenty sheep are kept in soak on each side ; of tliis'v its only object being to prevent too great a crowd from collecting at the exit end of the tank. On emerging from the water water, in which they usually remain two or three minutes, they are received upon another platform. From this they are pushed into the coldwater tank, 15 feet along bj 13 wide. It is about three feet below the platform level, and here the sheep are brougbt-under the action of spouts,'of which there are three, with two jets apiece issuing from an r opening of about an eighth of an inch across, the jets in every pair being separated by a distance of four inches. The two men assigned to each spout stand in tubs and turn the animal about, so as to give it the full. benefit of the flow of the water. This part of the operation does not last much above three-' quarters of a minute, and the sheep wnen released, step on to a dripping platform, and after a short stay there join their washed comrades in a dry yard beyond.. The long bath is supplied with hot water from four iron tanks, elevated upon a stage immediately over it, and each capable of holding 400. gallons. The cold water flnvs along a duct skirting these tanks and is admitted into the bath by spouts depending from it, fitted with t simple valve, by means of which connection can be closed .or opened at will. . The hot and cold water can be introduced without difficulty in the required proportions, and it is proposed to empty the bath two or three times a,day.. Advantage is to be taken of meal-times for this, so as to prevent any del -y. The cold water tank re ceives its supplies from a wooden reservior sixteen feet long, four feet wide, and three feet deep, placed above it. Suitable underground drains are provided for carrying the waste water away. The entire erection, yards included, has a. length of. some 250 feet. .. -\

The water used in the various processes is to be obtained from dams. Booyoolee station is about forty-five miles north-west of Clare, and 130 miles north of Adelaide. It has one or two creeks running through it, but the supply of water they furnish is rather precarious, and Mr Hughes has decided upon ensuring an 1 abundant provision fox his operations by constructing two or three other dams on the course of the Rocky River. The one now constructed is only ;. two or three acres in extent, and has depth of about ten feet; The water employed in the wash be raised .by.means of an eight-horse engine, to be imported from England,. and one of > Gwyn’s ceufrifugal pumps. These are to fill all the boilers and tanks; add give the requisite pressure, ; ;^he; cost^olhget 4 ting ..'the. apparatus.; in working order wilicertainlynotbe less than to say /not h ing ; of the ' ex tra, out lay for dams; calculated at the rate of at least £2OO each.j Out oLthis ■ >2IOOO nearly £7()Q -;isia,bs6rbed the * • pur-, chase of the engine, as the prnbable:*costr:of : the' wash proper. This it wilL be * noticed,- approximates very closely to > the estimatbrpf . Mr WilSorn in me^:^ andy R i isy anticipated ihafjwith the^arrangemeht tpoiw } c ousofas dp; v enjar|e^liat

• ft.-v ,n . ti K.rfv-.-„ \ r iag»a^adl|Cs^g^simitor^si|BurißS/-foT. Adrket ; ;bef6fe,sendingit away,deserye of their eiiterpnse;. and ;there;is . every L reason thatitßey will be speedily conipensated for the trouble 1 and expense ; they" are now incurring.';'' w ZZ'rZ-J .\7,V ■ 7