178 MANAGEMENT OF SHEEP, 



that their fleeces were gnawed off rather than shorn. But 

 with a view to repress indignation, the writer will not enter 

 into further description of such slovenly-looking objects, but 

 propose the question, Whose fault is this, and to whose door 

 is it to be laid 1 Is it the shearer, or is it the master 1 



In the first place, the mass of wool-growers are themselves 

 ignorant of the details of this important art, very few having 

 ever learned it practically, and consequently are incompetent , 

 to teach it. Therefore, when the shearer is proceeding with 

 his work, the master looks on, and, if faults are committed, 

 he is incapable of directing how they shall be avoided. He 

 may, it is true, vehemently denounce the ijg'i-''fnin^s and 

 cruelty of the shearer, but he has not himsen i.; *" 



knowledge to take the shears ancF i^t^?***^ "^ilti 

 should be held, and how far they should c* ■ 

 or the position the sheep should lip 'i 

 tearing the fleece with its feet. In au. 

 probable that the shearer, with a vir'" ' 

 two, has been hired to perform-the v, ..." . 

 much per head; and under such circurfif^ 

 " cuts in" and dashes ahead to accoh i 

 speedy time, regardless of the, scolding^ oi 

 manner of his work, or humaMty to the^ 



There are shearers, but they are few, who ca* 

 work quickly and yet do it well ; but these have accpired 

 the art correctly at the beginning, and have wisely a^^ered 

 to its rules through a long experience. But the great ma- 

 ' jority have been spoiled when learning the rudiments, by 

 the very class of farmers alluded to. Thus e#en shearers 

 who have had the benefit of some correct teaching, are made 

 reckless performers by parsimonious notions on the part of 

 those who have employed them. g 



Bad habits are very easily acquired by a_ shearer, as the 

 writer has had frequent opportunities of observing in those 

 who have served him in this capacity for successive years ; 

 but it has been in the employ of these shear-by-the-bead or 

 job flock-masters. Here is the root of the evil — urging 

 shearers to do more than they can do well, and thereby con- 

 firming the old but truthful adage, " haste makes waste." 

 The axe must be laid at the root of this evU at once, or good 

 Vvorkmen will continue to be, as now, few and far between. 

 The wool-grower must cease to entertain the false notion 

 that by hiring his shearing done by the head or job, he is 



