182 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



We hope that extensive and numerous experi- 

 ments will be made on the comparative value of 

 large and small potatoes for planting, that this im- 

 portant but very doubtful question may be settled. 

 What is the difference in the quantity of seed, and 

 ■what is the difference in yield ? We trust that we 

 shall have, another season, the results of accurate 

 experiments. 



♦ 



WASHING AND SHEARING SHEEP, 



AND PREPAKIXG WOOL FOR MARKET. 



Mr. H. S. Randall, of New York, well known for 

 his experience in managing sheep, gives the follow- 

 ing valuable information, in a work entitled " Sheep 

 Husbandry at the South," recently published by 

 Messrs Skinner and Son, Philadcliihia. 



As to the time of shearing sheep, we would re- 

 mark that, in the northern part of New England, it is 

 as well to delay it until the first week in June, and 

 longer if it continues cold. Occasionally, Ave have 

 cold storms in the north, the former part of June, 

 that are very severe on shorn sheep, sometimes 

 causing the destruction of many, and severe suffer- 

 ing in others. 



Washing. — This is usually done at the north, 

 about the first of June. The climate of the Southern 

 States would admit of its being done earlier. The 

 rule should be, to wait until the water has acquired 

 siifHcient warmth for bathing, and until cold rains 

 and storms, and cold nights, are no longer to be ex- 

 pected. 



Sheep are usually washed, by our best flock-mas- 

 ters, in vats. A small stream is dammed \ip, and the 

 water taken from it in an aqueduct, (formed by nail- 

 ing boards together,) and carried until sufficient fall 

 is obtained to have it pour down a couple of feet or 

 more into the vat. The body of water, to do the 

 work fast and well, should be considerable, say 

 twenty-four inches wide, and five or six deep ; ' and 

 the swifter the current the better. The vat should 

 be, say three and a half feet deep, and large enough 

 for four sheep to swim in it. A yard is built near 

 the vat, and a platform, from the gate of the yard, ex- 

 tends to and encircles the vat on three sides. This 

 keeps the washer from standing in the v,'ater, and 

 makes it much easier to lift the sheep in and out. 

 The yard should be large enough to hold the whole 

 flock, if it does not exceed two hundred ; and the 

 bottom of it, as well as of a smaller yard, unless 

 well sodded over, should be covered with coarse 

 gravel, to avoid becoming muddy. If the same es- 

 tablishment is used by a number of flock-masters, 

 gravelling will be always necessary. As soon as the 

 flock are confined in the yard, the lanibs are all im- 

 mediately caught out from among them, and set over 

 the fence into a yard. This is to prevent their being 

 trampled down, as it often happens, by the old sheep, 

 OT straying off if let loose. A boy stands by the 

 gate next to the vat, to open and shut it, (or the 

 gate is drawn shut with a chain and weight,) and 

 two nrcn, catching the sheep, as directed under the 

 head of tagging, commence placing them in the 

 water for the preparatory process of " wetting." As 

 soon as the water strikes through the wool, which 

 occupies but an instant, the sheep is lifted out and 

 let loose. The vat should, of course, be in an en- 

 closed field, to prevent their escape. The whole 

 flock should thus be passed over, and again driven 

 round where they should stand, say an hour, before 

 Avashing commences. There is a large percenta'^e 



of potash in the wool oil, which acts upon the dirt, 

 independently of the favorable effect which Avould 

 result from thus soaking it for some time with water 

 alone. If Avashed soon after a good shower, prcA'ious 

 Avetting might be dispensed Avith ; and it is not abso- 

 lutely necessary, perhaps, in any case. If the Avater 

 is Avarm enough to keep the sheep in it for the 

 requisite period, they may be got clean by Avashing, 

 Avithout any previous Avetting ; though the snowy 

 Avhiteness of Hcece, Avhich tells so on the purchaser, 

 is not so often nor &o perfectly attained in the latter 

 Avay. Little time is saA'ed by omitting " Avetting," 

 as it takes proportionably longer to Avash, and it is 

 not so well for the sheep to be kept such a length of 

 time in the Avater at once. 



When the Avashing commences, tAvo and sometimes 

 four sheep are plunged into the A'at. AVhen four are 

 put in, two soak Avhile tAvo are washed. But this 

 should not be done unless the Avater is very Avarm, 

 and the Avashers are uncommonly quick and expert. 

 On the whole, it is rather an objectionable practice, 

 for few animals suffer as much from the effects of a 

 chill as sheep. If they have been previously Avetted, 

 it is Avholly unnecessary. When tlie sheep are in 

 the Avater, the two Avashers commence kneading the 

 Avool Avith their hands, about the breech, belly, &c., 

 (the dirtier parts,) and they then continvie to turn 

 the sheep, so that the descending current of water 

 can strike into all parts of the fleece. As soon as 

 the sheep are clean, Avhich may be known by the 

 Avater running entirely clear, each Avasher seizes his 

 OAvn by the fore parts, plunges it deep in the A'at, and 

 taking advantage of the rebound, lifts it out, setting 

 it gently doAvn on its breech, on the platform. He 

 then, if the sheep is old or Aveak, (and it is Avell in 

 all cases,) presses out some of the Avatcr from the 

 AVOol, and, after submitting the sheep to a process 

 presently to be adverted to, lets it go. There should 

 be no mud about the vat, the earth not covered Avith 

 sod being gravelled. Sheep should be kept on clean 

 pastures, from Avashing to shearing, — not Avhere they 

 can come in contact Avith the ground, burnt logs, &c., 

 — and they should not be driven over dusty roads. 



The Avashers should be strong and careful men, 

 and protected, as they are, from any thing but the 

 Avater running over "the sides of the vat, they can 

 labor several hours without inconvenience, and Avith- 

 out drmking Avhiskey until thcA' cease to know 

 whether a sheep is Avell Avashed or Avell treated, as 

 Avas the bad old fashion. Two hundred sheep Avill 

 employ two expert men not OA'er half a day, and I 

 have knoAvn this rate much exceeded. 



It is a great object, not only as a matter of propri- 

 ety and honesty, but even as a matter of profit, to 

 get the Avool clean, and of a snoAvy Avhiteness. It 

 Avill ahvays sell for more than enough extra, in this 

 conditioni^ to offset against the increased labor and 

 the diminution in weight. 



Shearing. — Shearing is always done, in this coun- 

 try, on the threshing-floors of our barns, sometimes 

 on low ])latforms, but more commonly on the floor 

 itself. The " bay " is divided by a temporary fence, 

 one part being used for the yarding of the sheep, and 

 the other for doing up the avooI, &c. The enclosure 

 should communicate, by a door, Avith another and 

 larger yard outside of the barn. Both of these should 

 bo Avell littered doAvn Avith straw, and fresh straw 

 throAvn on occasionally, to keep the sheep clean 

 Avhile shearing. No chaff, or other substances Avhich 

 will stick in the avooI, should be used for this pur- 

 pose. When the dew has dried off from the sheep, 

 on the morning chosen for shearing, a portion of the 

 flock, sufHcient to last the shearers half a day, is 

 driven into the outside yard, and a convenient num- 

 ber into the bay. An assistant catches the sheep. 

 lifts them off from the floor, as already directed, and 

 delivers them at the door, through the "breastwork," 



