342 fVool in Relation to Science with Practice. 
" Tlie accompanying sketch of my wash-pen shows the position of all the 
parts, but the measurements are only approximate, as no actual scale was used 
in drawing it. There are four spouts, B, having an 8-feet pressure, 2 feet 9 inches 
wide, with an orifice of a quarter of an inch. The tank, a, above is sup- 
plied by a centrifugal pump, p, of 10 inches diameter, driven by an 8 horse- 
power engine, ^r. 
" The hot water soak-tank, E, will hold twelve sheep, and is 15 ft. x 4 ft. 
X 3 ft. 6 in. deep, divided by sliding gates into three compartments. There 
is a grating at the end, D, and a slide, F, from it to the wash-pool or pen, h, a 
section of which is shown in the elevation. 
" The wash-pen or pool, h, is bricked, and has an inclined plane at the 
outlet, K. 
" A low dam is thrown across the bed of the stream, which raises the water, 
say 2 feet, and thus lessens the lift of the pump, which is fed by a drain or 
trench cut from the bed of the stream, k, into the tank, also bricked. 
" The hot-water soak-tank, e, is fed by two boilers, l, of 400 gallons each, and 
these latter are filled by a small pipe, ii, from the pump, p, the cold water required 
being obtained Jrom the tank over the wash-pool by means of a hose, c. 
" Now for the modus operandi. 
" Twelve sheep are caught and thrown into the hot-water tank, e (making 
four in each compartment), which has previously been filled to within 6 inches 
of the top with water, heated to from 100° to 110° Fahrenheit, and in which 
also has been dissolved from 15 to 20 lb.=. of soft-soap. 
" The sheep then walk up an incline, or are lifted upon a grating at the end 
of the tank (see elevation), and after the fleece has been squeezed, are made 
to slide down an incline, F, into the hands of the washers (who stand in zinc 
tubs, t) and are placed upon the supports, J, immediately under the jets or 
spouts, B, where they are turned round and round until thoroughly cleansed; 
they then swim to the end of the pool and walk up an incline, k, to the top of 
the dam'or causeway, after which they pass at i to the drying paddocks. 
" The hot-water tank, E, is emptied twice a day, that is, at dinner-time 
(noon), and in the morning. 
" I can wash as white as snow from 500 to 700 sheep a day. 
" The sheep-supports, J, are a new invention, and sustain the weight of the 
sheep directly under the jets, preventing the great force of the jets driving 
the sheep too far under the surlace of the water, and thus lessening the action 
of the jet upon the fleece. They are formed of small rollers or cylinders, w, 
which turn with the sheep placed between them, and can be set higher or 
lower at pleasure by means of a sliding bar and key, x." 
Further, in an admirably practical lecture delivered by him, 
Mr. Cox observes : — 
" Having touched iipon the principles that should guide the sbeep-breeder, 
I cannot conclude without a short statement with respect to the getting up of 
the article produced for the market. My experience goes to prove that, how- 
ever carefully you may breed your sheep, and however superior the wool may 
be which they grow, your returns will be disappointing unless the greatest 
attention is bestowed upon the washing of your clip. 
" Everyone who has judiciously expended money upon the necessary plant 
and appliances for spout-washing his wool will freely admit that the returns 
are one hundred-fold. 
" Some three or four j-cars ago our sheep-owners were anxious to obtain the 
opinioQ of English manufacturers as to the general getting-up of their wool 
and the sorting of their fleeces. We used to get periodically the brokers' 
stereotyped report that ' so many bales of wool were sold — that the attendance 
of buyers was limited or otherwise — that some bales were seedy and moity, 
