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of course the bladder, are pressed in such a manner, 

 that the dung and urine are discharged, and dirty the 

 fleece. It is better to lay the sheep on a table bored 

 with many holes near the edge, and to pass a cord 

 through these holes in several places, so as to retain 

 the fore legs in one place, and the hind in another ; 

 if it is a horned ram, one of his horns may be lashed 

 to the table : by this means, the animal is less clog- 

 ged, and the shearers work at their ease, and may be 

 seated. This convenience is necessary for a work, 

 which requires care and address ; for the wool should 

 be cut with shears, very near to the skin, but without 

 wounding it. When the sheep is shorn on one side of 

 the body, he is unlaced, turned, and tied on the other.* 



Q. Is it proper to shear all the lambs ? 



A. It is best not to shear the weak lambs : in leav- 

 ing them their wool, they are preserved from the 

 accidents, to which they are liable after shearing, 

 and are better clothed for the winter. Their fleece 

 is larger the year following, and recompenses the 

 loss in the first year. 



Q. What proof is there of this recompense ? 



A. Six lambs were shorn at the end of June, 1773, 

 only on the side of the head, neck, body, and tail! 

 These half-fleeces were weighed, and the other halves 



* Mr. Livingston, of New York, in a late essay on sheep, recommends 

 to shearers, the tying- the fore and hind legs to a bar with two cross 

 pieces; the bar to be abcut eighteen inches long, and the cross pieces 

 six. This would leave the sheep in their natural posture, with their 

 legs a little stretched out : a rod of iron, with a curvature at each end, 

 would perhaps be still better, because being smaller, it would be less in 

 the way of the shears. 



