660 MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP EXTERNAL PARASITES 



placed in a barrel-shaped tank by the side of the dipper, 

 and a uniform quantity of material is maintained in the bath 

 by a regulating crane. A weight to counterbalance the cage, 

 attached to a wire rope passing over a pulley, makes the 

 raising and lowering of it easy. The weight is made to 

 travel up and down inside the supply tank, keeping the dip 

 at a uniform strength by agitation. The dip material running 

 from the sheep is collected on a concrete floor and returned 

 to a dripping or settling box on its way back to the bath. 



The cost of dipping, which is usually done by contract in 

 Southern England, is about id. each over a flock, including 

 lambs. The cost of dipping material for Scotch sheep is 

 from 5 per 1000 (or a little more than id. each) down to 

 half that price. 



Pouring is done by running a concentrated solution of, 

 say, 5 gallons per score (against 20 gallons used in dipping) 

 into " sheds " or partings made by the hand, at intervals, in 

 the wool along the back, sides, and belly of the sheep. This 

 is more effectual than dipping in a case of scab, but is more 

 expensive, and, for ordinary purposes, unnecessary. 



Smearing 1 with a mixture of equal parts of American 

 or Archangel tar and grease, or better, butter, is a method of 

 waterproofing the wool and destroying parasites that was at 

 one time very largely and successfully practised in exposed 

 hill districts, especially in the Highlands of Scotland and the 

 North of England. It encourages the growth of wool more 

 than any dip yet used, but wool is not so high in price 

 that the increase will repay the extra cost of the operation. 

 A limited number, however, of crofters in the Highlands and 

 small farmers in the North of England now practise it. It 

 darkens the wool, and often gives sheep, especially if lean, a 

 " back-set " until the tar rises a little from the skin. Smearing 

 should not be done before the middle of October, as a strong 

 sun melts the smear, and it runs towards the points of the 

 wool if it does not drip off, and moreover the sheep become 

 fevered. In carrying out the process the smear should be 

 laid well to the skin at the bottoms of partings in the wool, 

 and as little as possible on it. The usual practice in pre- 



1 The Author is indebted for many of the facts on this subject to 

 Stephen Brown of Borland, Lockerbie, N.B., formerly Killilan, Wester 

 Ross. 



