LIFE ON A SHEEP feTATION. 211 



clothing, pieces, cocks, and bellies. Of course, all 

 these qualities of wool are not found in every fleece : 

 some sheep growing combing-wool and others 

 clothing-wool. The low sorts, such as bellies, pieces, 

 and locks, are found in every fleece. 



Between the sweating-pen and wool-sorters^ quar- 

 ters are the shearers. Their portion of the shed is 

 termed the "board,'' and consists of a space 70ft. 

 long and 8ft. wide, on the eastern and western sides of 

 the building. Fifteen shearers stand on either side of 

 the board, and between them the catching-pens are 

 fixed. These consist of small enclosures about Oft. 

 square, into which the sheep are put from the 

 sweating-pen. Each pen has a door opening on to 

 the board, and two shearers are supplied with sheep 

 from each pen. There is a passage (called a race) in 

 the centre of the building, the catching-pens being on 

 either side, and a gate opens from each pen into the 

 race ; the race is always kept filled with sheep from 

 the sweating-pen, and as the catching-pens become 

 empty they are filled from this source. 



Machines are used to shear the sheep, and it is an 

 interesting sight to see a shed in full work. Most 

 sheds now have machinery, and the old system of 

 hand-shearing has almost died out. Mr. E. Arnold, 

 the manager, informed me that it was nothing more nor 

 less than a stupid prejudice prevented machines from 

 being in use on all stations. Last season (July, 1894) 



