[1481 



There is one fact in regard to the effect of shearing more 

 curious than practical. It is asserted, on the best English 

 authority, that rams recently sheared are incapable of pro- 

 ducing lambs. From the fact that shearing always take 

 place in the spring of the year. This, if true, is of no conse- 

 quence, but it should be taken into account, should the 

 farmer desire or intend to re- shear in the fall. According 

 to a noted Australian writer, a flock of 4,000 ewes and 100 

 rams newly sheared, produced only 165 lambs. Another 

 author had 100 ewes and four rams recently sheared which 

 only brought nine lambs. A large " station " in the same 

 neighborhood had five per cent, of lambs. In California they 

 shear at any season, as in Australia, where the climate is 

 equable, there being no sudden transitions of weather from 

 hot to cold. Where there is a distinct division of heat and 

 cold, the habit is universal to shear during the breeding 

 season, otherwise the wool would shed and come off in tufts. 

 With the exception of the Merino this is universal, but 

 with the Merino, the sheep have been known to go as long 

 as six years without shearing, which will account for the 

 enormous weight of some published fleeces. One in Aus- 

 tralia in six years attained a length of 22 inches, and one 

 in California in 1874, with three years growth, weighed 52 

 pounds. 



