CHAPTER XIV 

 WASHING AND SHEARING SHEEP 



In Chapter XIV the following phases of these ques- 

 tions are discussed: (i) Washing sheep before shearing; 

 (2) When sheep should and should not be washed; (3) 

 The different methods of washing; (4) Handling sheep 

 when washing or shearing them; (5) Tagging sheep 

 when washed; (6) Sheep between washing and shearing; 

 (7) The time and place for shearing; (8) Methods of 

 shearing sheep ; and (9) Handling the shorn flock. With- 

 in the last two or three decades there has been much mod- 

 ification in the methods of managing sheep, both with ref- 

 erence to washing and shearing. Modifications with ref- 

 erence to the former have been brought about by the 

 transfer of manufacturing wool from the farm home to 

 the factory, and with reference to the latter by the in- 

 troduction of shearing by machinery. 



Washing sheep before shearing — The following are 

 chief among the arguments that favor washing sheep 

 before they are shorn: (i) It is virtually necessary to 

 wash them when the wool is to be manufactured at home ; 

 (2) the shearing is more easily done when the sheep are 

 washed; (3) there is a saving in the cost of transporta- 

 tion; and (4) it is possible to estimate more correctly the 

 exact value of the wool. 



When wool is to be manufactured at home, the neces- 

 sity for washing it is based on the fact that washing the 

 dirt out of the fleece is much more easily accomplished 

 while it is yet on the sheep's back than after it has been 

 removed. The manipulation of the wool so as to remove 

 the dirt is accomplished much easier when the fleece rests 

 on a firm surface, which helps to hold it in place, such as 

 is presented by the body of the sheep. It is based on the 



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