t74 ^ "^^^ Mamgetnenf of Sheep May 



ing equf.i, the ram pr<5duces moft wool, the wcdder next, and 

 the ewe laft. It is faid that the flieep produce lefs wool after 

 a wet fpring, owing to their having fuftered from the eiTccls of 

 ir.oifture. 1 weighed feveral fleeces, and found that they differ- 

 ed from ench other according to age; thofe taken from animals 

 ©f twtD and a half years old weighed about three pounds and a 

 tjuarter, while thofe of four years of age gave fleeces of between 

 four and five paunds weight ; thefe weights are to be undcrftood 

 as tnkcn while the natural greafincfs remained in the wool. The 

 wool of the young'er animals was finer, more lllky, more pli- 

 able, and conranicd lefs impurities than that of the older fheep j 

 both were equally white, and fimilarly fmeared at the under end, 

 and both were rediOi towards the points of the wool. The 

 neck wool of the young fiieep was about fix and a half inches 

 long, and that of the thighs {t\tn and a half; the neck wool 

 oi the older fhcep was feven and a half inches, and that of their 

 thighs only fix 'and a half, without taking into confideration the 

 inch of wool left on the fkins. 



Four or five days after (hearing, it is cuflcmary to wafh ths 

 flcecci in wh.U: is called gav€ water, which is a mixture of fnow 

 water, cold fpring water, and the water of fome warm mineral 

 fprings. In this operation, each fleece lofes fomewhat lefs than 

 half its original weight. I had the curiofity to wafh two ounces 

 of white wool in the fpring called Ralliere, which is of the tem- 

 perature of 99.5 by Fahrenheit's fcale, and it loft three quarters 

 of an ounce by the procefs. It was whitened by the wafiiln^ 

 but confiderably lefs fo than what had been wafhed in the ordi- 

 nary gave water ; and it had acquired a good deal of harfhnefs. 

 I had forineiiy remarked, that the hair and the nails of fuch 

 perfons as bathed for a confiderable time in the Ralliere water 

 became iiardened, and acquired a yellowifii tinge, from which 

 jcircumflance I was not furprifed by the efFe^ls of the fame wa- 

 tCT on the wool which v.'as wafhed in it. 



After the fleeces have been wafhed, they are dried in the 

 xhade, on cords hung up in lofts; the black fleeces, and thofe 

 of fuch fheep as have laboured under difeafe, as the fcab, &c. 

 are feparated from the reft ; then the fleeces of t.\\Q older ani- 

 mals, of four and five years old, are feparated from thofe of 

 two and three ; from both of thsfe the wcol of the neck, back, 

 and flanks, as far as the middle of the fides, are parted as the 

 beft ; and of this the fined is taken from the neck and back 

 jof young and healthy fheep, in their fccond or third year. Iri 

 every flock, they diftinguiih five or fix kinds of wool; and the 

 difference of fex and conftitution, contribute to augment t"hefc 

 Mirtln6lioos. Thefe circumftances have even confiderable in- 

 fluence 



