THE SHEEP 



173 



The shearing of the sheep is done by the 

 owners themselves assisted by their servants. 

 That of the whole district takes place, if pos- 

 sible, simultaneously, so that as little 

 time as possible is taken. It is done 

 with such awkwardness that the 

 sheep are sometimes half skinned 

 by inexperienced shearers. The poor 

 creatures then have a most repulsive 

 appearance, in consequence of the 

 lack of cleanliness in the inhabitants 

 of those regions, never more clearly 

 revealed than during the shearing 

 operation. The manipulation of the 

 wool is also filthy. Part is sold, and 

 another part is sent to the small spin- 

 ning mills, whence the owner receives 

 it back in the form of worsted for 

 knitting, woolen aprons, or stuffs to 

 be made into coarse woolen garments. 

 A small part of the fleece is kept by 

 the owners ; it is washed and hung 

 on trees or hedges to dry and bleach. 

 Then the mother brings out an 

 ancient spinning wheel and spins her 

 own yarn. This is the ordinary worsted with 

 which the shepherd knits his socks. 



Before the shearing the sheep are w^ashed, 

 the washing being done in common by the 

 owners and their servants, assisted by all the vil- 

 lage youth. The young men stand in the water 



and pass the sheep from hand to hand, which 

 causes the animals to receive a mud bath, the 

 benefit of which is very problematical. This 



SHROPSIURF. R.AMS 

 Photo J. T. Newman, Berkhampstead 



H.K.Mi-siiiKi; Down R.am 

 Photo J. T. Newman, Berkhampstead 



"washing day" is kept as a fete day, on which 

 the inhabitants take baths that are not merely 

 external. 



The manure of the sheep is left for a whole 

 year to pile up in the sheepcots, where it 

 forms the litter of the animals. It is only 

 taken out once a year, in the 

 spring. As the moorland 

 sheep are especially useful for 

 their manure, the territory 

 they occupy is slowly but 

 surely diminishing, since a 

 more intelligent system of 

 farming is developing, and 

 artificial fertilizers are found 

 tc) work as well as sheep 

 manure. 



V. English Sheep for 

 Butchering 



English sheep are in direct 

 iip]5osition to moorland sheep 

 in their chief qualities, 



