A KARROO FARM. 245 



the ewes, after a couple of day's absence, failed 

 to recognise them, thus causing trouble and 

 inconvenience. Now, when fastened to the wire- 

 fencing, the herdsman simply walks up and down, 

 and finds his charges at once. 



The time for clipping the Angoras comes in 

 July, when from fifteen to twenty hands are hard at 

 work for three weeks or a month. The goats are 

 clipped in forks, into which their heads are inserted, 

 and in which they stand firm and rigid as rocks 

 until the operation is completed. The silly sheep, 

 on the contrary, cannot be induced to stand in this 

 manner, nor perhaps, if they were willing, could the 

 old - fashioned method of shearing be improved 

 upon in their case. The yoke, in which the goats 

 stand, is an exceedingly simple yet ingenious 

 contrivance of our hosts, and deserves description. 

 Two iron forks are fixed into a wooden standard, 

 sufficiently high to reach to the goat's neck, the 

 standard itself being firmly planted in the ground. 

 One of these forks is movable, and is so contrived 

 that the goat's head being inserted, the fork can be 

 pushed back into its natural position, and a wire 

 being then passed over the neck and fastened to 

 both forks, the goat is firmly secured and cannot 

 withdraw its head. 



The 15,000 sheep depastured on the estate are 

 almost entirely of the merino breed. The clip of 

 wool from the flocks in one year amounts to 150 

 bales; that is, reckoning the bale at 450 lbs., 

 27,000 lbs. weight. Wool shearing begins in 

 November, and some twenty hands, including sorters 

 and packers, are kept busily employed for three 

 weeks or a little longer. At the time I speak of, the 



