1026 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



close proximity to the body subjects the animal to much un- 

 necessary suffering. It will endure, with impunity, a high degree 

 of dry cold ; but, above all things, sheep ought to be kept out 

 of water, both that from above and that on the ground, at least 

 in the winter. Let the advocate of open-air management, who 

 argues volubly on the sheep's abundant " natural covering," con- 

 ceive of himself exposed to the long rains of winter, protected 

 with a coating of sponge instead of water-proof oil-cloth, and he 

 will have the subject before him in a personal and comprehen- 

 sive shape. 



Washing. This leads naturally to the subject of washing. 

 It would undoubtedly be better for all concerned manufacturer, 

 farmer, and the sheep itself if the practice was wholly abol- 

 ished ; but it is useless to make outcry against it so long as the 

 farmers are firmly grounded in the belief that the rule requir- 

 ing a deduction of one-third on unwashed fleeces operates un- 

 equally and in a majority of cases unjustly. Washing is an 

 operation which may be performed so thoroughly or so slightly 

 that it has been the source of endless humbug and swindling. 

 But the mere color of the wool deceives no expert. The great 

 remedy for all the evils w r hich have barnacled over the whole 

 business of wool-growing and wool-selling lies in the closer ap- 

 proximation of the manufacturer and the farmer, which will 

 come only with the cessation of the " lumping " methods of a 

 comparatively new society and the introduction of closer special- 

 ization. When every man's clip is thoroughly inspected by an 

 expert buyer, and a just system of deduction enforced in each 

 individual case for there must always be a current market 

 price when that time arrives, the farmer can act his pleasure 

 as to washing. Until that time comes the interest of his pocket 

 will leave him little option. 



Washing is best done in a small stream of soft water, dammed 

 or conducted into a vat, and the earlier it can be done in the 

 season without discomfort to the men the better. There are 

 often hot days late in April or early in May when the water in 

 a brook is warm enough after nine o'clock to cause no serious 

 inconvenience to man or beast. A pond large enough to accom- 



