SHEEP. 



ropy appearance, and a more pleafant fmell, with a lefs 

 acrid talle than the other kind. Tar (hould probably 

 always be well mixed with butter in performing this fort of 

 ■work. 



Sheep, Teelh of, the parts of the mouth of thefe animals 

 by which their agt-s are often, in fome meafure, afcertaini-d. 

 Wlien full-mouthed, they have ufually eight teeth of the in- 

 cifor kind in the lower juw. They throw up two fuch each 

 year until this takes place, by which means their fucking 

 teeth arc difplaced or loft. See Age of Sheep, and Teeth. 

 SllEEP-Shearina, in Rural Ecori'jmy, the bufinefs of clip- 

 ping or cutting off the coats or fleeces of ihecp, by means 

 of fhears conltrufted for the purpofe, which are termed 

 •wool-fhears . It alfo fometimcs fignifies the feafon in which 

 this fort of work is ufually performed, which was formerly, 

 and is even in fome cafes at prefcnt, a fort of feflival. The 

 operation is performed in different ways by different perfons, 

 but the belt mode is that of the circular, or round the fhcep, 

 inftead of the longitudinal, which is at prefcnt molt m uie. 

 It is ufually performed about June or July, according to 

 fituation and feafon, but Ihuuld not be done either too early 

 or be too long protracted, as injury and inconvenience may 

 attend either extreme. A good clipper is capable of clip- 

 ping from feven to fourteen or Hfteen, and up to twenty or 

 twenty-five in the day ; and more are frequently done by 

 very expert perfons. Great care fhould be taken not to cut 

 or prick the animals ; but where this accident happens in the 

 northern parts of the kingdom, they touch the part with a 

 little tar, or flieep-falve ; and in Sweden it is often done with 

 train-oil and refill melted together. And in addition to 

 what has been already obfervcd on this fubjedf, it may be 

 itated, that much improvement has taken place in this art, 

 efpccially in the more fouthern diltrifts of the kingdom, in 

 making ufe of the mode of clipping round the fheep, which 

 has gradually extended itfelf from the northern diflridts of 

 the ifland ; by which lefs wool is loll by being left upon the 

 fheep, and the bufinefs performed in a more expeditious, neat, 

 and convenient manner. It was much the practice formerly 

 to clip lengthways of the fheep, and in fome cafes in many 

 different diredtions, according to the convenience ( f the pcr- 

 fon who executed the work, by which means it was often 

 ill done. And in Ireland it has been Hated, that they clip in 

 Ihort Ifrokes, catching a bit of wool firit in one place and 

 then in another ; and thut if they are not looked narrowly 

 after, they will leave many parts, fucli as the heads, tails, 

 and infides of the thighs, untouched. 



We have, in fpeaking of Iheep, noticed the nioft proper 

 periods of performing thit very important operation ; and 

 the following remarks, by Mr. Price, an excellent fheep- 

 farmer in the county of Kent, with the comments of Mr. 

 CuUey, as flated in the Annals of Agriculture, will fliew 

 the proper mode of managing the fheep in the time of fhcar- 

 ing, as well as the manner of executing the bufinefs with 

 thefe fheep-maflers. It is ftated by the former, that the 

 fheep-fhearing in Romney-Marfli commences about Midfum- 

 mer, and finifhcs about the middle of July. Thofe who 

 (hear firlt, think they elcapc the eflefts of the fly, and thofe 

 that fhear late, apprehend they gain half a pound weight in 

 every fleece, by the increafed perlpiration of the flieep. In 

 early fliearing the wool has not the condition which it after- 

 wards acquires, but the hot weather occafioiis a good deal of 

 trouble in detefting the fly. In order to begin, a large pen 

 is filled with flieep ready for the coming of the fhcarers, in 

 number from four to twelve, in proportion to the extent of 

 the flock. The time employed is from two to four days. The 

 flieep arc let into a fmall pen, thirty or forty at a time, and 

 when taken out to be flieared, all except three, more are 



put in, becaufe one or two only left would be apt to jump 

 out. A boy keeps the gate, and the account of the num- 

 ber fheared, with fmall kadcn tellers. Thefe (hearers by 

 profeflion differ much as to quantity and method of per- 

 formance ; never begin early, but are fatislied with eight or 

 ten hours fhearing : a good fhearer will fhear ten an hour, a 

 bad one feven. Their emulation tends only to difpatch and 

 profit, not excellence of performance, and the fheep are too 

 often pulled about in a rude aKd barbarous manner, and even 

 wounded by the fhears with cuts of the length of three 

 or four inches, and the wool left unevenly fhorn : tar, or 

 fome ointment, is then applied carelefsly by the boy, in or- 

 der to keep oft the flies. The matter's office is ufually to 

 give the pitch-mark, and when one field is finifhed, the 

 flieep are returned, and others are in readinefs to take their 

 place. 



The common mode of catching the fheep is by the 

 hinder leg, drawing the animal backward to the adjacent 

 fliearing-place, the hand holding the leg to be kept low ; 

 when at the place it is turned on its hack. Or they are 

 moved bodily, or one hand placed on the neck, and another 

 behind, and in that maimer walked along ; the firfl, or com- 

 mon mode, he thinks the moll lafe. The parts of fheep fed 

 on rich pailures, and flcfliy, if handled hard, and bruifed, 

 are liable to fatal mortifications ; an accident which often 

 happens, on which account the pens upon fome lands are 

 obliged to be lined with woollens, or many would die 

 from bruifes. The price of fliearing m \%d. or 2s. a fcore, 

 with a dinner, and 2s. 6d. or id. a fheep without vic- 

 tuals, but with drink. They vary much in different 

 places. A good winder will wind 400 fleeces a day, 

 at the fame price per hundred as tlie fliearer has per fcore. 

 The method of Ihearing — the left fide of the fhcep to the 

 fliearer's left leg, his left foot at the root of the fliecp's tail, 

 and his left knee at the fheep's left fhoulder. The procefs 

 commences with the fhears at the crown of the fheep's 

 head, with a llraight cut along to the loins, returning to the 

 fhoulder, and making a circular fliear round the off-fide to 

 the middle of the belly ; the ofl^ hinder leg next : then, the 

 left hand holding the tail, a circular fhear of the rump to the 

 near buck of the ffieep's hind leg ; the two fore-feet are next 

 taken in the left hand, the flieep railed, and the fhears fet in 

 at tlie brcalt, when the remaining part of the belly is fliearcd 

 round to tlie near ftifle ; lafUy, the operator kneeling 

 down on his right knee, and the flieep's neck being laid over 

 his left thigh, he fliears along the remainnig fide. 



However, on thefe flatemcnts Mr. Culley has made the 

 following pradtical comments ; namely, that Mr. Price's ob- 

 fervatioii is jull, with regard to the benefit arifii.g to wool 

 from being late clipped, and that it is confonant with the 

 opinion of the Lincolnfliire gra/iers and breeders, who have 

 paid more attention to the fubjeft, and iinderfland it better 

 than any other of the profefTion in this ifland : but very great 

 attention is required from the flicpherd to keep the flieep, 

 under the circumllances of late clipping, free from the fly 

 and maggots, alfo from the danger of being lealen by fmall 

 flies, which faflen on thofe parts where the points of the 

 fhears have made the fmallefl fcratch. But that, in regard 

 to fliearing feven or ten fheep in an hour, nothing can be 

 more abfurd and improper than fiich attempts, fince it is im- 

 poflible for llie bell fliearer to clip the lowefl; luimbcr within 

 the time, and perform it well, as it ought to bedine. Forty 

 years ago, the fame abfurd pradtieo prevailed in Durham, 

 and particular men would clip fixty or feventy of that large 

 breed in a day ; but the confeqiience of fuch improvident 

 hafte was, that befides imperfed fliearing, large pieces of 

 cularlv from the bellies of tiie flieep, 



(kin were cut, particii 



3N 



vliich, 



