MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 215 



while. In shearing the sides of the sheep the knee is pressed 

 firmly against the brisket and the sheep allowed to lean well back. 

 This is the easiest part of the sheep to shear. As the shearing pro- 

 ceeds down the sides, the sheep is allowed to gradually drop, until 

 it lies nearly full length on the floor. As soon as the detail work 

 is finished, such as shearing the hind legs and the tail, considerable 

 speed may be made by making three or four continuous cuts from 

 the rump to the shoulder. The sheep should be straightened up 

 now, the operator straddling it and holding it firmly between his 

 knees with the back convexed as much as possible, without danger 

 of injury. In this position several good swathes can be made up 

 the back and the back of the head and left side of the neck finished. 



While this is not a detailed or complete description of the 

 operation of shearing, it is sufficient to give the novice an idea of 

 how to proceed in first trying to shear by machinery. If he pro- 

 ceeds after the manner described here, he will acquire the cardinal 

 features of the art of shearing while the detail work will take care 

 of itself. In shearing a sheep it should be held on a balance, as 

 it were, so that, although perfectly helpless, it is not uncom- 

 fortable. While the power sheep-shearing machine is to be recom- 

 mended for large flocks, the small hand-power machine is all that 

 the manufacturers claim for it. This is known to be true of one 

 machine having the solid jointed shearing shaft as the author knows 

 from experience. 



In New Zealand recently twenty shearers sheared with the 

 machine 4,229 head of sheep in eight and three-quarter hours, 

 one man shearing 280 in that time. Another fast piece of work 

 was done by a Maori named Raihama, who sheared 332 head of 

 sheep at an average of one minute and thirty-seven seconds per 

 sheep. Nine men of the same gang sheared in six hours an average 

 of 266 per man. This certainly puts the hand-shears on the shelf. 



TYING THE FLEECE. 



When tying the fleece always put the best side marketward. 

 A well-tied fleece always attracts more attention than that which 

 is indifferently tied. It always pays to take a little care in fold- 

 ing and tying the fleece. On our western ranches wool is gen- 

 erally sacked in a loose condition. In the east the wool-box is 

 generally used in tying the fleece. A good idea of how this is 

 made can be gathered from the accompanying illustration. Al- 

 ways keep the fleece as much together and as compact as possible 

 when tying. All tag-locks should be removed and the inside of 

 the fleece placed on the tying table. The edges of the fleece 

 should then be folded over toward the center (the ends also) and 

 then rolled up from head to tail or vice versa as tightly as possible 



