94 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



the sheep. But, as to shearing sheep without washing all, I 

 regard it as a nasty, disagreeable job, only to be submitted to in 

 a case of necessity. Aud as to time and comfort, both, I would 

 sooner wash two sheep and shear one of them than shear one with- 

 out washing, as, beside the uastiness of the job, the shears enter 

 and run in the sticky gummy wool very badl}'-, and are continually 

 becoming dull with the dirt. So, all that is saved by not wash- 

 ing goes over the left. As I I'egard it, the proper course is to 

 give the sheep a smart, hasty wash, paying little attention to any- 

 thing but discharging this old gum. Then let the sheep run in a 

 clear place where there is no sand for them to lie on, from a week 

 to a fortnight before shearing, which gives time for nature to give 

 a fresh supply of "oil," as it is called, which is neither so abun- 

 dant, or dirty, or gummy as the old that has been washed away. 

 And manufacturers tell me they much prefer to buy wool treated 

 in this wa}' to that that has been washed, although the latter is 

 much the cleaner. But they say that oil or grease will not make 

 wool work nearly as well as its own natural lubrication. The gum 

 of wool is soluble in water — it is more like soap than grease. 

 Five minutes is long enough to keep a sheep in the water." 



Mr. Solon Robinson took ground against washing at all ; first, 

 because it injures the sheep and the appearance of the wool, and 

 second, because the true weight of the fleece cannot be so well 

 determined. 



As a cure for lice on cattle, it was recommended by letter to 

 feed saltpetre, a teaspoonful to the creature each day for three 

 days. 



Dr. Ward stated, in reply to this recommendation, that the 

 remedy could not be effective, inasmuch as saltpetre expends its 

 whole force on the kidneys, and does not work out upon the skin 

 at all. 



To Cure Garget. 

 The writer of another letter read, asked for a remedy for the 

 garget in cows' udders. Ans. Feed the cow garget root mixed 

 with grain, and wash the udder with the steepings of the same. If 

 the dugs are badly affected, wedge small-pointed slips of the root 

 into them. It is believed that this will prove an infallible remedy 

 in all such cases. 



