Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 553 



who said he regarded the paper as one of great importance. The 

 motion was unanimously adopted. 



Shearing Sheep. 



The Hon. L. A. Morrill, author of " The American Shepherd," 

 favored the Club with the following practical and timely discourse : 



There are shearers, but they are few, who can do their work quickly 

 and yet do it well ; but these have acquired the art correctly at the 

 beginning, and have wisely adhered to its rules. Bad habits are very 

 easily acquired by a shearer. Here is the root of the evil : urging 

 shearers to do more than they can do well, and thereby confirming 

 the old and truthful saying, " Haste makes waste." The wool-grower 

 must cease to entertain the false notion that by hiring his shearing 

 done by the job, he is the gainer, for the very reverse is the fact. In 

 nine-tenths of such instances, owing to the slovenly and half-way 

 execution which follows, the sheep carry away wool enough to doubly 

 pay the ordinary wages. Those who can shear a large number in a 

 day, and perform it skillfully, are very few ; but nothing precise can 

 be stated, as it depends entirely on the breed. If they are Saxons or 

 Merinos, or grades of these breeds, it will be safe to say from twenty- 

 five to forty, taking the average of a flock ; of grown sheep fewer 

 than of yearlings. In general terms it may be said that he is a good 

 workman who will shear the largest number, cuts the wool with one 

 clip of the shears, and not in twain, as one shearing too fast will do, 

 shears even and close without cutting the skin, and holds his sheep in 

 those positions both easy to it and himself. The following instruc- 

 tions are intended for the novice : Supposing that the floor of the 

 shearing-house has previously been thoroughly cleaned, the pound 

 containing the flock littered with staw, the shearer proceeds to catch 

 his sheep. This he must avoid doing after a common method, which 

 resembles, rather than anything else, the rough-and-tumble efforts of 

 a dog dragging a woodchuck from his burrow ; but, after catching it, 

 to throw his right arm round the body, grasping the brisket with his 

 hand, then lift it, and with his left hand remove dirt or staw, if any 

 adhere to the feet. If the sheep is filthy about the tail, or perchance 

 any burrs are attached to the wool, at the threshold of the door let 

 all be cut off" by a suitable pair of shears for such purposes only. 

 Then he may place the sheep on that part of the floor assigned him, 

 resting on its rump, and himself in a posture with one knee on a 

 cushion and the back of the sheep resting against his left thigh. He 

 grasps the shears about half way from the point to the bow, resting 



