1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



133 



hemp, or cotton are intermingled with the wool ; 

 the carder cannot dislodge them — they receive 

 the dye imperfectly, and consequently deface 

 the surface of the cloth. 



SIIEARING-HOUSE AA']) ATM^NDAGES. 



Flock-masters arc subjected to many inconve- 

 niences for want of an appropriate place for 

 shearing, with the necessary appendages of 

 pounds, &c. Tlie expense of a shearing-house 

 is not large, and will amply reimburse the ex- 

 pense in a few years, as it can be used for the 

 reception of farm implements, &;c., when the 

 shearing is over, and wool removed. 



The fence for the pounds should be constructed 

 of posts and boaz'ds; two are required, and the 

 one contiguous to the shearing-house need not 

 be more than twenty feet square ; the other may 

 be much larger. 



It is very important that the wool-loft should 

 be well lighted. No matter how well the fleeces 

 may have been cleansed, yet if there is a defi- 

 ciency of light, they present a dingy aspect. — 

 One window of good size is all that is necessary 

 at the south end, and two will be required at the 

 opposite or north end, for the reason that from 

 that quarter the light is milder, and gives the 

 wool, if fine, a softer and more silky appearance. 

 Wool sorters always give a "north light" the 

 preference. 



The trap door for suspending the sacks when 

 packing, should be in a central part of the floor, 

 which leads to the subject of 



BALEING WOOL. 



The article commonly used for baleing is 

 termed by the merchant, burlaps, which varies 

 in width from 3.5 to 40 inches; the latter is pref- 

 erable. The quantity necessary for a sack is 

 three yards. Jl truss hoop is used, around the 

 rim of which the mouth of the sack is twisted, 

 and is then placed on a square frame just large 

 enough to permit the rim of the hoop to rest. The 

 elevation should be sufficient to clear the sack 

 from the lower floor, when suspended. Some 

 half dozen fleeces are then thrown in for a layer, 

 followed by a man who carefully adjusts and 

 treads each successive layer, till full. General- 

 ly, there is quite too much haste in this matter, 

 and consequently the wool is too loosely packed, 

 and an extra quantity of canvass is made neces- 

 sary. It will be well before the packing com- 

 mences, to stufT the bottom corners of the sacks 

 with wool clippings, and tie them, which afford 

 handles for lifting the bales. 



Scours in Sheep, 



At the suggestion of a friend who has proved 

 its efficacy by experiment, we copy the following 

 remedy for this disease from the Complete Gra- 

 zier, a valuable English work : 



"The F^lux is a diarrhoea, or looseness, that 

 attacks sheep that suddenly come to full feed, 



afler having been stinted ; though it is sometimes 

 occasioned by their eating the plant known by 

 the names of may-weed, maythen, or fetid cham- 

 omile {Anthemis cotula of Linna;us. ) In g'ene- 

 ral, the flux is not attended with any dangerous 

 cojisequences, and usually disappears in the 

 course of a few days, in dry weather. ShouM 

 it, however, continue longer than a week, it will 

 be proper to give them some well-dried, sweet 

 hay, and a decoction of clover flowers, with the 

 addition of a little barley meal ; allowing them 

 neither any salt, nor to feed on any saline plants 

 near the coast. But it is evidently the farmer's 

 interest to give these useful animals a regular 

 supply of food, as the weakness occasioned by the 

 flux must necessarily reduce their condition." 



Tallow and Train-Oil, as a Salve for 

 Sheep. — In the Highland and Agricultural Soci- 

 ety's Transactions for 1844, pp. 271-273, an 

 article appeared, recommending the use of tal- 

 low and train-oil, in equal parts, as a salve for 

 sheep ; and, in reference to that article, a genr 

 tleman in Argyleshire, skilled in the manage- 

 ment of sheep, writes as follows, under date the 

 9th Julv last : " The salve I used for my sheep 

 last autumn (viz. one half tallow to an equal 

 proportion of train-oil,) has in every respect 

 answered the description given of it in the So- 

 ciety's Transactions ; and one of my tenents 

 whom, with some persuasion, I got to smear thirty 

 of his flock with that mixture, admits that they 

 are in better condition than any of the others ; 

 that the wool will weigh as heavy as that done 

 with tar and butter ; and that he will get the 

 price of white wool for it. The expense last 

 year was a little greater than tar and butter, as I 

 paid Is. 6s. a pint for oil, and 6d. a pound for 

 tallow ; but this year I shall get oil for Is. a pint, 

 and if a quantity is required, a lower price.-— 

 Edinburg Journal of Agriculture. 



Mutton. — We mean to repeat at least a thou- 

 sand times, or till what we say has some effect 

 upon our countrymen, that a pound of lean, ten- 

 der, juicy mutton, can be raised for half the cost 

 of the same quantity of fat poi-k ; that it is infi- 

 nitely healthier food, especially in the summer 

 season ; is more agreeable to the palate when one 

 gets accustomed to it ; and that those who eat it 

 become more muscular, and can do more work 

 with greater ease to themselves than those who 

 eat t'at pork. We know notliing more delicate 

 than smoked mutton han^s of Southdown breed 

 of sheep — venison itself is not superior. Sheep 

 can be kept in fine growing order, where other 

 domestic animals will scarcely exist, and thou- 

 sands of acres in the State, under an enlightened 

 system of sheep husbandry, may be made to pay 

 a good interest, where now they are nearly dead 

 property in the hands of their present owners.— - 

 Ajner. Ag, 



