WASHING, SHEARING AND MARKING 203 



expectation of making good wages for some weeks 

 each season. A good shearer will shear from 45 to 

 100 sheep in a day, using common hand shears. He 

 will get for his service from 4 to 10 cents each, per- 

 haps 6 cents being the average price. 



The shearing place should be in some light, airy 

 part of the barn. A clean platform on which to 

 work is necessary. If nothing else is available, 

 since sheep barns have usually the natural earth 

 floor, a spare barn door may be taken from its 

 hangings and laid down for temporary use. A small 

 pen close by holds enough sheep in readiness to 

 keep the shearer busy for some hours. 



In back regions it is customary to tie the legs of a 

 sheep, place it on a low platform or box and set 

 two men, or one man and a boy at work cutting off 

 the fleece. This is a childish and unskilled method 

 that should not be imitated. 



The sheep is a peculiar animal, directly sensitive 

 to touch. Tie the legs, or even touch them, it re- 

 sponds by struggling to be free. Turn it so that it 

 cannot get its feet to the ground and its struggles 

 cease, as though it knew the hopelessness of strug- 

 gling. 



Following this thought, if one attempts to hold a 

 horned sheep by the horns it continues to struggle 

 and cannot seem to understand why it is not free. 

 It cannot feel the press of the hand upon the horn. 

 Hold the same sheep by a touch under the chin and 

 if it has had a trifle of training it, feeling your hand, 

 vields and stands dutifully. 



