Summer Management of the Flock 217 



on the lambs and are a handicap and annoyance to 

 them. Less dip is required when the older sheep 

 are short of wool. With lambs less than three 

 weeks old, there is a danger of disowning by their 

 mothers on account of the dip destroying the scent 

 by which the lamb is recognized. If this happens, 

 the lamb is not allowed to suck, and some trouble is 

 necessary to effect a reconciliation. Unless the flock 

 is wholly free from ticks, a fall dipping is desirable. 

 This should be done before the weather is cold enough 

 to render the sheep liable to cold. 



Lambs can be easily dipped in a barrel. A wide 

 trough may be utilized for larger sheep, but care and 

 patience must be exercised to make sure that the 

 dip reaches all parts of the body. 



A swimming-bath of the following dimensions will 

 be found most suitable for a flock of several hundred ; 

 it can either be made of pine boarding lined with 

 zinc or of concrete. Let the length of tank be 20 

 feet, and 2 feet wide at top, narrowing to 1 foot 

 at bottom. The tank is 5 feet deep at one end, the 

 depth extending to one-third of its length. The bot- 

 tom then stands up from this point to the top of the 

 end ; it is on this slope that the sheep leave the vat, 

 and ought to be battened every 6 or 8 inches, 

 so as to make egress easy for the sheep into the 

 dripper, A pen to hold the required number of 

 sheep for dipping is built at the deep end of the 

 tank, with the floor raised 2 feet, forming a drop 



