234 



APPENDIX. 



with a spout. This is done by bringing them one by 

 one under a stream of water, falling from a moderate 

 height ; but it is not likely that it will ever be generally 

 adopted, as it requires very peculiar facilities in regard 

 to water, and is besides a plan fraught with danger to 

 the sheep. It ought to be kept in mind, that a stream 

 of water playing on the body, produces a very stunning 

 effect, which may destroy life in an inconsiderable time, 

 and has, in this way, been often employed for putting 

 criminals to death. Be this as it may, the Australian 

 sheep-farmers have doubtless been led to resort to the 

 spout, owing to the fleeces being so full of filth as to 

 be cleaned with difficulty in the common way. The 

 finer the wool, the more abundant is the yolk or viscid 

 secretion on the skin, and the greater, consequently, is 

 the quantity of filth which sticks to it. The dirtiness 

 of the wool becomes, in this way, no mean test of the 

 value of the sheep. Some of the fleeces lose fully 

 three-fifths of their weight by washing. The average 

 weight of the fleeces from the improved breeds, is from 

 two to two-and-a-half pounds. The ewe fleece seldom 

 exceeds one pound and a half. " The wool is packed 

 in bales, wrapped in canvass, and forwarded for ex- 

 portation to Sydney, on drays drawn by oxen. Some 

 ^f the more extensive sheep-farmers send home their 

 wool direct to their agents in London, where it is sold 



iccording to its quality, at from one to three shillings, 

 (the freight to Londb^i beipg only three-halfpence) a 



pound."'* 



The highest prices yet obtained for some of the picked 



* Historical Account of New South Wales, by John Duamore Lang, 

 D.D., Vol. I p. 350. 



