THE BARK, PASTURE AND DAIRY. 95 



is most effective *when used at a temperature of one 

 hundred and twenty degrees, and the sheep should be 

 left in the dip long enough to have the wool saturated, 

 and the skin well soaked by the fluid. A quantity of 

 fresh dip should be kept in a boiler, to renew -the old 

 dip as it is diminished by use. 



SHEEP-SHEARING BENCH. 



Shearing benches will be found desirable, as they save 

 the wearisome stooping over the sheep. A bench of this 

 kind is shown in figure 118. It is made of stout strips 

 nailed to curved cross-pieces. These are best bent by 



Fig. 118. SHEARING BENCH. 



steaming them, or soaking them in hot water for some 

 hours, or sponging them frequently beside a hot fire, by 

 which the fiber is much softened and the wood is warped 

 permanently. The legs are about twenty inches long. 

 Any dust on the wool falls through the bars. 



EAR TAG PUNCH FOR MARKING ANIMALS. 



A punch, which is struck with a hammer, and even 

 the new belt-punch pattern, now so generally used, in- 

 flict considerable pain; the blow in one case, and the 

 very considerable pressure needful in the other, are 

 both productive of suffering which can just as well be 

 avoided. Some breeders have used with entire satisfac- 



