Essay on Sheep. 93 



shearing commences, that the sheep be penned 

 in the open air, and brought by six or eight 

 at a time into the barn. If the flock is large, 

 drive up only one portion of them, and let the 

 rest feed abroad till wanted. The time of shear- 

 ing must be regulated by the state of the wea- 

 ther and the growth of the wool. If the sheep 

 begin to loose their wool, and this does not arise 

 from bad keeping, it will be found, on examin- 

 ation, that it is protruded by a growth of young 

 wool ; there would then be some loss by defer- 

 ring the shearing, as the new wool will injure 

 the old, and the next years crop be diminished 

 in quantity by the delay. But even this should 

 not induce the farmer to shear his sheep till the 

 weather is \yarm and settled. In this circum- 

 stance the Merino breed have an advantage 

 over all others. They never shed their wool; 

 and from some experiments that have been 

 made in France*, it appears that two and even 

 three years growth may be had at one cutting 

 without diminishing the quantity. Thus, if 

 a sheep would have given three pounds the 

 first year, if left unshorn, he will give six the 

 next, and nine the following; so that if it was 

 desirable to have Merino wool of ten or twelve 

 inches long, it could be obtained : but it is a 

 practice that I would not recommend in our 



