WASHING AND SHEARING SHEEP 297 



purging is arrested. When tagging is done at the wash- 

 ing season, additional help will be called for, so as to avoid 

 delay in delivering the sheep to the washers. 



The tags thus obtained may be so incorporated with 

 filth as to be practically worthless. In other instances it 

 may prove profitable to remove the filth and sell the tags. 

 The filth may be removed by soaking the tags for a time 

 sufficiently long to soften the manure adhering to them, 

 and to dissolve it so that it can be removed by one or 

 more washings. Soap will, of course, aid in the dissolv- 

 ing and cleansing process. The price paid for such will, 

 of course, be lower than for other wool. 



Sheep between washing and shearing The interval 

 between washing and shearing will be influenced to some 

 extent by the character of the weather. If the weather 

 is dry and bright, one week should suffice between the 

 time of washing and shearing. Under other conditions, 

 it may be necessary to defer the shearing so as to cover 

 an interval considerably longer. The interval between 

 washing and shearing should not be unduly prolonged, 

 lest the wool should become more or less filled with for- 

 eign substances. This would, of course, so far detract 

 from the benefit resulting from washing. 



The objects in thus deferring the shearing for several 

 days subsequent to the washing, are, first, to allow the 

 fleece to dry, and, second, to give time for the yolk to ex- 

 tend to the tips of the wool fiber. This will add greatly 

 to the luster of the wool. Should the wool be shorn while 

 yet overmoist, the labor of shearing is less pleasant, and 

 the hazard is incurred that injury will come to the wool 

 through the excess of moisture which it contains. More 

 or less mold would result, and also discoloration, which 

 would proportionately discount the price. 



Between the period of washing and shearing, the 

 sheep should be grazed on clean pastures, otherwise the 

 benefit from washing the fleece may be much neutralized. 

 In newly settled areas, where logs that have been charred 



