State Agricultural Society. 



471 



E 



A, compartment for wool. B, table extending across the three shear- 

 ing benches C C C D D D, pens in which stand the sheep and shearer. 

 E, lane in which to bring sheep up to the pen gates F F F, the dotted 

 lines showing the gates so opened to drive in. G, an alley or largo 

 compartment or corral, into which the sheep for each half day's shear- 



ing are to be driven. 



something about shearers. 



I would not have more than two men in each pen, and it is preferable 

 to have a separate pen for each shearer. This tends to prevent "racing," 

 and if any hand wants to outshear his companions, compels him to do so 

 on the "square," not nicking the sheep all over, nor shearing it badly, 

 as he will thus be detected at once. When several hands are turning 

 their shorn sheep loose into the same bunch, it is difficult, without losing 

 too much time, to tell who the shirks are. Sometimes a violent tem- 

 pered shearer may so injure a sheep that it will die; in fact, I have had 

 them killed in mj' presence. Of course, I got a good round price for the 

 loss, but that does not always repay it. Sometimes a young, thoughtless 

 hand, or an old scamp, will throw his whole weight on the neck and 

 shoulders of a restive sheep and crush it, so to speak, against the shear- 

 ing bench, while it is in a sitting posture. Look out for any such work 



