290 MANAGEMENT AND FEEDING OF SHEEP 



handling it by the other method. The improved methods 

 of scouring which science has produced has contributed 

 to the change. The decadence of the industry of manu- 

 facturing of wool at home is in some ways to be regretted, 

 but in the end the change will doubtless contribute to the 

 advance of a high civilization. 



The washing of show sheep, as previously intimated, 

 is confined almost entirely to the long wooled breeds. 

 Why it should be thus is to some extent the outcome of 

 fashion, but the fashion probably rests on a sensible founda- 

 tion. That washing does add to the beauty of the fleece of 

 the long wooled sheep cannot be questioned. 



That it adds to the beauty of the middle wooled 

 breeds, particularly those of the dark-faced types, may be 

 questioned. That it does not add to the beauty of the 

 fleece in the fine wooled breeds is a foregone conclusion. 



The time for washing sheep will, of course, vary. 

 When small flocks are to be washed in a tank, the water 

 being artificially warmed, they may be washed at almost 

 any time desired. When large flocks are to be washed, 

 the washing is deferred until the water in the streams and 

 ponds or lakes in which the sheep are washed has become 

 warm enough to bring little or no hazard to those who 

 wash them or to the sheep. When the water is so warm 

 that it brings no hazard to those who do the washing, 

 it will certainly bring no hazard to the sheep. In the 

 northern states sheep are not usually washed in a large 

 way before the end of May. Going southward, the season 

 may be continually advanced until the Gulf of Mexico is 

 reached. The character of the season may cause a varia- 

 tion of 10 to 14 days in the usual time for washing. In 

 some seasons it will be advanced and in some retarded. 

 But in no instances does it take place so early as to pre- 

 clude the sheep from taking harm through carrying an 

 excessive weight of fleece after the days have begun to 

 wax warm. 



