SHEARING BY STEAM.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1966, 7 November 1889, Page 2

SHEARING BY STEAM.

r [stove special reporter.] | Asia well known, theta are few men 0 ,in this district more ready to give -a t , practical trial to machinery adapted to ,the farm or ' Postlethwaite , of SaukapukA The| /using of a cream separator at his dairy a farm on the Geraldine road, and the f installation of the ' electric light at his 'i homestead are but two out of many ". instances of thia. His latest innova- / tion is the fitting up athis.woolshed of . ten of the Wolseley shearing machines, 1 I, of which so much has been heard, but 9 of which so little has been seen in this ■* district. A Visit paid to' the shed * shewed- that arrangements had been made for some ten machines, but'only j five were then being used. A glance * at the quality of the work dona by * this really splendid ; invention, reven }’ ‘ When hied by unpractised was . su&cikit to convince anyone 1 that fhW 1 days of the ol4:fashiened' !h'and shears * 1 Are, numbered, and tha]bin Mr, * "W" * a both the sheep and , their owhersjhavea perfect The,! , ipachinejitself, which ,hy the. way took f ‘ the., patentee 16 years to invent, is ! 'Simplicity itself. It may best t be t described as a pair of horse clippers i worked by Steam, being; a . cutter i across a finger plate.; At " 'the Eaukapuka , station a six horse ■ ! power,engine is Rationed a few ys-rds i 1 ¥rqm |the side of the shed, and, by ; means of a band and pulley, drives a ‘spindle * attached to the wall about ; seven or eight feet high/ and tanning the whole length of the shed, on which, ! ta| few feet apart, 1 so as toallbw room fer the men;to;workfare the i wheels Which give the action to the machines. Ibis is conveyed to them by,means of. i /a pliableicatgufc : connection'revolving ihside an india-rubber tube. ! The tubing and connection being pliable,, ,aiad the ! ’lai:t«ir/fcpM(tatirig.;with the tpaehine by what is termed a universal joint,*i^.qws-of a considerable amoppt? of on'the part of the sheatar.' At the end of the connection is what is : termed a tumbler, and the cutter, ; working on a :pivot; receives from the : tumbler the backward and forward ; motion. The; cutter can be tightened 1 or loosened on the , finger bar at pleasure, by means.of which is , called 3 the tension, which is merely a screw i worked by the. thumb and finger. The 1 tumbler is encased in a smooth metal < casing, and .the whole is connected by £ a handle about i of an inch m diameter, 1 through which the' connection runs. < The finger plate can be removed by taking out two screws, and by the c removal of two other scrpws the V

machine can be taken to pieces. The whole thing is so simple that the merest novice could take it to pieces and put it together again, in fact, the difficulty would be to put it together wrongly. Above each shearer’s head, and conveniently within reach, is a small handle, by means of which he can connect or disconnect the nfachmei; ht ; any | diodient he wishes to do so. " The belt which .drives. Jibe. spindle > also drives«a«emall emery wheel at a very high rate of speed, 1 at which any irregularities that may. have .worn in the fiagerplateor cutter can be ground out by a! tew j touches, and the machine at the same {time sharpened. Of the; quality ? of | the work done it is ; impossible- to {speak too highly, the sheep hayirig the |same eyeh appearance as a well-clippe| horse. ' the head, belly legs, th,qse jparts which are the most difficult to* •shear, are all finished .off beautifully. Wbenyohr reporter visited th4{,sied; jtbe shearers had never seen the maIchines till the afternoon, before, but jthey were able to turn but very fair iwork indeed. It is quite possible to make second cuts in the wool, 'but with very little care this is. jOnii greht^advantage is thal let a !most impossible to cut the sheep, and the 'of ‘tar ,r will Soon he unjknown in , the shearing ..sheds,; s j A ‘sheep may,, occasionally, through, carellessness be slightly scratched, but. jscarcely sufficiently to draw blbod; but? that is a mere' bagatelle compared ! the gashes’ they oftbn receive with the .ordinary, .shears/: .There is .little? -dottht btit that the machine jwill soon be exceedingly popular with both ; sheepowpers, ■ and' shearer*. . To the latter its introduction will make jvery i-little Or no difference id thSi'wdJ of doing away with labor, as the nun-.,, ibbFdf < ’ {about the same as by means of the. {Hsiiid'shears,' ! kreryfasV shearer' iay ? jbe a little handicapped *At firSt, : but {doubtless the fast man now will be,the last mah uiider the'hbtv conditions, |As to the ratd bf 'speed it may be mentioned /that 'Mr- Stb*tifard, ,O tHoT i W Gdmfiany’ik ek^ert,' !! who ifitted up Mr Postleth waito’s machindij" Wn the the Melbourne Exhibition, shearing tLO&sheep in 7 .hours and |2O /minutes.*) jL7O and 200 sheep are said to have been f shbrn : bypneiipiitehujr jtlrti 1 repbrt : lacks cotifirmatjibnl Ml Stentiford adyiqo®, f received by him 160 sheds' hkve already been fitted up with the machines On the other side. Most of the large {stations in New Zealand are. ,also» being ‘htted up I .' with theuil f’.kpy motive 1 ppwer cap, be.utilised to run.< them, and the small cockatoo can have, one fitted to be run hy, : meansi of a horse, ppwey or. t a small, ; watery wheel, The old Or present system is, a, considerable .strain, on the shearer’s wrist, 1 but' under, the new order of things the work is made, fareasier, . A slight; .bhjeqtayon ffiachifee ivlas that the shearer, instead of moying round thb sheep,' had, to a certain dx-j tent, to mbyothe sheep, i |q ‘ \jse'ejT 'ftp*;. machine/ as' the flbecQ'waktaken on.' ’ Mr Postlethwaite' hasiuhis employ a shearer, who uses the ; {\Yolseley with,; either the righi; or '.-left hand, thus Saving i the/ necessity lof rmoying the sheep. The Eaukapuka shed has b| man|| who were anxipuV toi see. the patent at work. Those, interested in sheep farming who have never seen it. at work shpuld certainly notfailrto=pay a visit Wfhedhed,dud see*it for Jtndmselves. Mr Ppstlefhiyaite deserves every credit far his enterprise in the matter./ v:, -i j