WASHING SHEEP. 265 



pasture on which they have fed, and other obvious circum- 

 stances. So that any undeviating rule for this deduction 

 must be a manifest injustice to the owner of the flock: There 

 may be a full half difference in this respect in the fleeces 

 of different flocks. So that the custom of brook-washing, as 

 it is commonly termed, is resorted to for the purpose of 

 cleansing the fleeces from the greater part of these impuri- 

 ties. This semi-barbarous process is not only far from 

 effective, but it is seriously hazardous to the health of both 

 the shepherd and his sheep. Unless the water is pure, and 

 the bed of the stream is free from mud or sand, the wool 

 comes from the operation at times more heavily charged with 

 impurity than before it was washed. On the whole this 

 process is justly becoming obsolete, and if the wool is to be 

 washed on the sheep's back the operation should be per- 

 formed under the most convenient and effective arrange- 

 ments. 



Such an arrangement consists of a suitable enclosure for 

 the sheep on a green clean sward, and in which a catch pen 

 as described on page 214 is arranged. A suitable boiler is 

 used by which the water may be kept at an average heat of 

 eighty degrees, in the \vashing tank. This is reached by a 

 sloping platform, enclosed at the sides, along which the 

 sheep is led by an assistant. As soon as one is washed in 

 the tank at the end of this platform it is discharged through 

 a passage way into a clean, grassy plot, and the next one is 

 taken in hand. As it is required the water in the tank is 

 renewed, and it is an excellent way to help the washing to 

 clip off the most filthy tag locks behind the sheep and have 

 these washed separately after the sheep have been finished. 



No soap is required in this process, the yolk of the wool 

 being a natural soap. It consists of a little less than one-half 

 water, and more than one-half fatty matter akin to a com- 

 mon potash soap. The potash in the yolk is so abundant 

 that in large establishments it is recovered from the waste 

 water and sold. Besides the soapy yolk there is about eight 

 to ten per cent of oil in the fleece, but this is not generally 

 removed by the washing, some being left in the wool. It is 

 not desirable to carry the washing so far as to rid the fleece 

 of its oil; the result of this is to make the fiber harsh to 

 the hand, and to that extent render it unsatisfactory to the 



