ON SHEEP'S WOOL-. 1()3 



Wanted, they may be kept still longer, even to ten 

 years old, in a country where sheep live to that age - r 

 but care must be taken to fatten them a year or fifteen 

 months before the time they begin to decay. 



CHAPTER XII. 



ON SHEEP'S WOOL. 



Q. AT what time ought sheep to be shorn ? 



A. In the spring there starts a new wool on tlie 

 skin of the sheep : this is questionable in regard to the 

 coarser wooled sheep, and not true in regard to the 

 fine wool of the latter, as the wool is formed by pro- 

 portion from the root, that is protruded forward like 

 hair : by removing the locks of the old wool the points 

 of the new are perceived, and when it begins to push 

 out, or shoot, it is then time to shear. 



Q. What inconveniences would arise from shear- 

 ing too soon ? 



A. The wool would not be in its true state of ma- 

 turity ; it would not have all the qualities, which it 

 would acquire at the natural term of its growth. 

 Sheep being shorn too soon in cold countries, would 

 suffer injury from the air. 



Q. What would be the inconveniences of shear- 

 ing too late ? 



A. When the new wool begins to appear, the old 

 easily pulls out, and the least obstruction is sufficient 

 for it; therefore if the sheep rub against hedges or 

 bushes, the branches catch some locks of the wool; 



