30 FITTING SHEEP 



Stubble Shearing. 



Shepherds are an ambitious class, especially in matters 

 pertaining to exhibiting. We sometimes find one whose am- 

 bition overcomes his discretion, and the employment of ques- 

 tionable methods to win a coveted prize is the result. That 

 some shepherds actually do receive premiums galore dis- 

 honestly by creeping around the rules set down by the vari- 

 ous agricultural societies governing the condition in which 

 sheep shall be shorn there is no doubt; but of course they 

 do not belong to our class. While these rules are supposed 

 to be of a very rigid and ironclad nature, in reality they are 

 not. To-day the showyard atmosphere is fairly reeking 

 with violations of these rules. There are many tricks em- 

 ployed by the professional shepherd, which no doubt add 

 much to the beauty and general appearance of his exhibit, 

 and which sadly handicap the novice in his race for show- 

 yard honors. But you say, why does not the novice enter 

 protest against such methods? No one has yet gained much 

 outside of the ill-will of the whole shepherding fraternity by 

 pursuing such a course. Those having the least experience 

 with sheep cannot have failed to notice that many of the 

 sheep shown at our fall fairs must be phenomenal wool- 

 bearers, if they are honestly and fairly shorn not earlier 

 than the first day of April according to the rules laid down 

 in most premium lists. Not long since a prominent Irish 

 exhibitor of sheep exhibited his flock, each member of which 

 had a patch of untrimmed wool left on its body, 'to show 

 the actual length of original staple. Many prominent breed- 

 ers, both English and Irish, considered this precedent well 

 worthy of imitation, some going so far as to express a wish 



