282 THE SHEEP OP GREAT BRITAIN. 



carbolic acid was associated with glycerine. Witli regard to the 

 periods most suitable for dipping, the first should be after 

 the ewes are shorn, and before the lambs are weaned ; the 

 second during the height of summer, when flies are trouble- 

 some ; and the third in the autumn. The effect upon the 

 health of the sheep is very apparent ; the pores are opened, 

 circulation is more healthy, and progress more rapid. The 

 cost seldom exceeds Hd per head. It is, hardly necessary to 

 add that where sheep are bought, either for breeding or feeding, 

 the first step is to dip them before placing with the home-breds ; 

 this precaution should never be neglected. One outbreak of 

 scab will cause more loss than the cost of dipping during a 

 lifetime. And the worst is that when once a flock is affected 

 there is no telling when the farm will be clear — it may hang 

 about for years. 



The process of dipping is too well known to need a detailed 

 description. The carbolic mixtures, when their strength is 

 regulated, are not unhealthy — the action is decidedly tonic, so 

 that any absorption that may occur through the skin will do 

 good rather than harm. The dipping tub with its drainer and 

 rubbing board are useful apparatus on a sheep farm. Cages 

 have been designed in which the sheep can be lowered into the 

 liquid, but we prefer the offices of two men, one on each side of 

 the tub ; the one holds the fore legs and takes care that the 

 ears are not submerged, the other the hind legs; and after 

 keeping about half a minute in the bath the animal is rolled up 

 and down on a grated surface, to allow of the liquid returning 

 to the tub. The dipping is best done in a yard or bare ground 

 where there is no possibility of the sheep finding any food. 



