78 SKETCHES OP RURAL AFFAIRS. 



warmth of the weather must be considered. It is cruel 

 to shear sheep too early in the season, and it is a bad 

 practice to delay it too long. A few days or a week 

 before shearing, the flock is washed in a running stream, 

 where the soil is hard and gravelly. A muddy river 



SUMP-WASHING. 



would do more harm than good. Folds are set up 

 on either side of the stream, one for the washed, the 

 other for the unwashed. 



The shepherd and two or three assistants generally 

 manage the sheep-washing, the number depending upon 

 the size of the flock ; but the most complete way of 

 doing it is as follows : While one or two persons are em- 

 ployed in catching the sheep, and bringing them one by 

 one to the river's brink, three men stand in the water : 

 the first near the bank where the sheep are folded ; the 

 second in the middle of the stream, but rather higher 

 up than the first j the third near the opposite bank, and 



