THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



299 



you have too much dressing, put it in cot- 

 ton hags and throw it in the pot with-your 

 pickles. 



From the South Carolina Farmer and Planter. 



Sheep Shearing*. 



From time immemorial in the wool growing 

 Districts, the first of J une has been set apart 

 as a holiday, when scenes of unusual mirth 

 and festivity ushered in the first day of the 

 sheep shearing season. At the present time, 

 in many parts of Europe, the first day of June 

 is known as a holiday, as the beginning of the 

 wool harvest, and is celebrated by feasts and 

 dancing. Even in the United States, the North- 

 ern portion of these where there is much atten- 

 tion paid to sheep husbandry, the first of June 

 is a day of general jollification. But with us 

 in the Southern States, where the spring is 

 some two months in advance of that of our 

 Northern neighbors, we must begin to shear 

 our flocks of their fleeces, near the first of 

 April, — some do even before that, but there 

 may be some risk in so doing. If we leave 

 our sheep late in the spring, before we begin 

 to shear, we find many that are poor, exhaust- 

 ed and even look sick, which is caused by their 

 thick, heavy fleeces keeping the air away from 

 their skin, and is keeping the system in a fe- 1 

 ver all the time. Such sheep will lie in the 

 shade, and will rarely be seen feeding through 

 the day, but early in the morning, and late in 

 the evening, they will do so with a voracious 

 appetite, proving that sheep will endure hun- 

 ger, rather than expose itself to the scorching 

 sun of early spring. 



Many judicious planters object to washing 

 sheep, from its tendency to produce colds and 

 catarrhal affections to which sheep are par- 

 ticularly liable, but it cannot well be dispensed 

 with, as the wool is always more saleable, and 

 if carefully done, need not be attended 

 with any injury; warm, settled weather, 

 however, is indispensable to washing with 

 safety to the general health of the sheep. . 



When the planter has but few sheep, and 

 needs all the wool for home consumption, he 

 can consult his own convenience about wash- 

 ing his sheep ; but with a large flock, and the 

 wool for a market, the sheep must be washed ; 

 it gives the staple a lively look, and a softer 

 handling, and can be got cleaner if carefully 

 washed on the animal than can possibly be 

 done after it is taken ofi' from him. 



To wash your sheep, build a small pen in 

 such a manner that the sheep may be easily 

 caught, close by a running stream ; have one 

 man in the pen to catch and tag the string, 

 (which is the removal of all the wool' near the 

 extremity of the sheath and scrotum of the 

 males, from the udder of the ewes, and from 

 below the dock, the inside of the legs and 

 thighs,) for two to wash. I have seen some so 



careless as to drag the sheep in the water on 

 their backs, or any way to get them in. Such 

 practice is very wrong, as well as a hard way 

 to handle sheep. The easiest way is to take 

 up the sheep and carry it. By dragging a 

 sheep into the water, the sand and mud gets 

 in the wool where much of it will remain to 

 the great annoyance of the shears when the 

 sheep becomes to be shorn, besides injuring 

 the sale of the wool. The sheep should be 

 caught by a man in the yard, and carried to 

 the edge of the water, and then held on a 

 bench or stool, until the washer is ready to 

 take it. The washer then carries it into the 

 water to a suitable depth to perform the opera- 

 tion ; having squeezed the wool sufficiently in 

 the water, he leads the sheep gently to the 

 shore, and then finishes the operation by 

 squeezing the water out of the wool as much 

 as possible. In this way w r e serve a double 

 purpose; first, if any filth remains in the wool 

 after washing in the water, more can be squeez- 

 ed out than will naturally drain out; and 

 second, by squeezing the water from the wool, 

 the sheep is relieved of a heavy burden, which 

 otherwise would cause it to tumble down in 

 the mud, sand, or gravel, running off, which is 

 too often the case when let go with the water 

 in the wool. In such cases they need be taken 

 up, carried back and washed over again. 



After all are washed, the sheep should be 

 confined in a close pen until they begin to 

 sweat or steam, and then turn into a clean lot 

 covered with pine leaves or straw, kept clean 

 until ready to shear. 



Catch your sheep gently as possible, turn 

 it on its back, set yourself down on a low stool, 

 and lay the sheep's head on your left leg, put 

 your arm over across its body, and with the 

 left hand raise its fleece off from the points of 

 the shears as you work, this is the easiest and 

 safest way to handle the sheep. 



After the fleece is off, take it and spread it 

 with the outside uppermost on a smooth bench 

 or table, push the wool carefully together to 

 render it more compact, double the sides over 

 to the centre, throw the clear loose locks into 

 the middle, and roll together from each end; 

 this makes a smooth, dense package, which is 

 secured by passing a stout twine one or more 

 times around the sides and ends; this is now 

 ready for market, and all the wool from the 

 extremities or, the second quality, should be 

 closely sheared and saved by itself before dis- 

 missing the sheep, but not put up with the 

 choice fleeces. 



If wounds are made, which is some times 

 the case with unskilful hands, a mixture of 

 tar and greese ought to be applied. After 

 shearing, such horns and hoofs as are likely 

 to be troublesome, should be sawed and pared. 



From the improvement in the price and de- 

 mand for wool, and that of the coarser quali- 

 ties, the prospect now held out of a steady 

 market for the article, and a still further en- 



