Station Work 31 



shearers are amusing, each being anxious that 

 the " cobbler " shall fall to the other. 



Up and down the board walks the shed over- 

 seer, with an eye upon every man there. He 

 sees that the "penners-up" do not leave a pen 

 empty for one moment, that the pickers-up are 

 keeping the board clear, and above all, that the 

 shearers are doing their work properly. It is of 

 the utmost importance that each sheep shall be 

 shorn closely and evenly, uneven shearing result- 

 ing in waste "tip" to the wool of the next season. 

 The shearers, who are paid according to the num- 

 ber of sheep shorn, will scamp their work if not 

 properly supervised. The rivalry among them 

 is very keen, and there is sometimes close compe- 

 tition for the position of "ringer," as the man 

 whose total of shorn sheep at the conclusion of 

 the shearing is the highest, is called. Occasion- 

 ally a man in his haste and in his anxiety to 

 shear close will cut a piece of skin from his 

 sheep, when a boy with a pot of mixed tar and 

 grease will be called to daub the wound of the 

 suffering animal. In the old days of hand-shear- 

 ing, the tar boy's services were more frequently 

 in requisition than under the modern system of 

 machine-shearing, now in vogue at all the best- 

 managed stations. 



At eight o'clock, work is suspended for the first 

 of the many meals the shearer manages to devour 

 during the course of the day. The shearers' cook 

 is always a competent man, and supplies his 



