rs The Shepherds' Gnic/e, 



tage about the end of July : that they improve 

 much, soon after shearing ; are more cool and 

 more comfortable ; get rid of ticks ; rest and feed 

 with less disturbance : that by winter, they ac- 

 quire a sufficient fleece for their defence, and at 

 the following shearing yield a fleece nearly as 

 heavy, more regular, and of a better quality. And 

 Mr. Pictet, in a letter to Lord Somerville informs 

 him, that some good husbandmen clip from the 

 surface of their lambs' fleeces, about one or two 

 lines in length, so as to procure about half a 

 pound of wool from each ; that the growth of the 

 remainder is accelerated thereby, so as to give 

 a heavier fleece the next spring, upon the same 

 principle that hair grov/s more vigorously after 

 occasional cutting. 



One of my neighbours has been in the practice 

 of shearing his Merino lambs for two years past ; 

 and from his own experience confirms the above 

 observations. I sheared near one hundred lambs 

 at the last shearing, and they certainly look as 

 well this spring as those which were left unshorn. 

 If, therefore, this practice shall be found no ways 

 detrimental to the sheep, the profit recommends 

 it ; as this wool sells readily to hatters, at a good 

 price. 



Wool. Fine and soft wool, of a regular and 

 even fineness of pile, and of equal strength the 

 whole length of the staple, exceeds in value such 

 as is coarse, hard and unequal, or as it is called 



