The Shepherds' Guide* 8 i 



it prevents the scab, and destroys ticks and 

 other vermin to which sheep are subject. Shorn 

 wool, kept long, in a very warm and dry tempera- 

 ture becomes indurated and elastic, and acquires 

 the properties of hard wool : the greater the degree 

 of warmth the more speedily w^ill this effect be pro- 

 duced. But even in a moderate temperature, 

 wool w^hich has been shorn for three or four 

 years will neither spin nor felt so well as that 

 which has not been kept above one year. Even a 

 very hot and dry season is found to impede the 

 manufacturer, and to lessen the value of cloths 

 made during its continuance. 



Lord Somerville agrees with Mr. Bakewell, in 

 attributing similar effects to heat, upon the grow- 

 ing fleece, particularly soon after shearing. Cold 

 and heavy rain, by checking the natural secre- 

 tions, and washing off the yolk to a certain degree 

 produce the same effect : and for these reasons the 

 Swedes and Saxons clothe and house their sheep 

 in winter, and drive them into the shade of trees, 

 or of their sheep houses, for some hours in the 

 middle of the day, during their short and ardent 

 summers. Nor is it improbable, that to the equal 

 temperature which is thereby obtained, any good 

 effect which may result from the Spanish practice 

 of driving their sheep in spring to the northern 

 mountains, and in iVil to the southern plains 

 may be justly attributed. It is partly to remedy 

 the ill effects of heat, cold and wet, that the far- 



