186 
COTTON PLOWS. 
This he must avoid doing after a common method, 
which resembles, rather than anything else, the 
rough-and-tumble efforts of a dog dragging a wood¬ 
chuck from his burrow—but after catching it, to 
throw his right arm around the body, grasping the 
brisket with his hand, then lift it, and with his left 
hand remove dirt or straw, if any adhere to the feet. 
If the sheep is filthy about the tail, or perchance 
any burs are attached to the wool, at the threshold 
of the door, let all be cut off by a suitable pair of 
shears at hand for such purposes only. Then he 
may place the sheep on that part of the floor as¬ 
signed to him, resting on its rump, and himself in a 
posture, with one knee on a cushion, and the back 
of the animal resting against his left thigh. He 
grasps the shears about half-way from the point to 
the bow, resting his thumb along the blade, which 
affords him better command of the points. He may 
then commence cutting the wool at the brisket, 
and, proceeding downwards, all upon the sides of 
the belly to the extremity of the ribs, the external 
sides of both thighs to the edges of the flanks; 
then back to the brisket, and thence upwards, 
shearing the wool from the breast, front, and both 
sides of the neck.—but not yet the back of it—and 
also the poll or fore part, and top of the head. 
Now the “ jacket is opened” of the sheep, and its 
position, and that of the shearer, is changed, by 
being turned flat upon its side, one knee of the 
shearer resting on the cushion, and his other gently 
pressing the fore-quarter of the animal to prevent 
any struggling. He then resumes cutting upon the 
flank and rump, and thence onwards to the head. 
Thus one side is completed. The sheep is then 
turned on to the other side, in doing which great 
care is requisite to prevent the fleece from being 
torn, and the shearer acts as upon the other, which 
finishes. He must then take his sheep near to the 
door through which it is to pass out, and neatly 
trim the legs, and leave not a solitary lock any¬ 
where as a harbor for ticks. It is absolutely neces¬ 
sary for him to remove from his stand to trim, 
•otherwise the useless stuff from the legs becomes 
intermingled with the fleece wool. 
In the use of the shears, let the blades be laid as 
flat to the skin as possible, not lower the points too 
much, nor cut more than from one to two inches at 
a clip, frequently not so much, depending on the 
part, and compactness of the wool. 
The above instructions being designed for a be¬ 
ginner, we will suppose that this is his first and 
only attempt. Let his employer, when he is 
about it, and it will be a good while, have an eye 
on all his movements, kindly and carefully direct¬ 
ing them. After the pupil is through his first 
effort, you will see him smoothing out the crinkles 
and aches from his back and hips—for thus the 
poor fellow will feel—and if the weather is warm 
—and of course it should be—wiping the dripping 
sweat from his brow. But be easy; let him blow 
awhile before he catches another sheep, for if you 
hurry him, long before night you will hear mur¬ 
mured from his lips, that “ shearing is a back- 
breaking business—it’s not what it is cracked up to 
be,” &c., &c., indicating that he is already disgusted 
with it, and if so, adieu to his ever arriving at skil- 
fulness. But if he has time afforded to straighten 
himself, and is petted with kind compliments 
“ upon his unexpected well-doing—that he im¬ 
proves with each successive sheep—and that he 
will be sure to make a first-rate shearer,” you will 
bring him under the yoke without his knowing its 
hardships. He will probably shear eight or ten the 
first day, and possibly a few more the next; at all 
events, guard him all the while, and see that he 
hurries not, or slights his work in any respect. 
In this way, and none other, can we properly 
educate shearers to do their work with tact, and in¬ 
creased. profit to the flock-master. This is but a 
transcript of the writer’s course ; and to show its 
good results, he has now in mind an instance, 
among several, where he instructed a raw one, and 
the following season his pupil sheared forty per 
day, and performed his task admirably .—American 
Shepherd. 
COTTON PLOWS. 
I have not ascertained what will be the amount 
of cotton planted compared with the crop of 1845, 
but I presume not more, if as much. However, I 
do not think there will ever be made more cotton in 
this country than was made in the year 1844. 
There is more of a feeling now manifested for 
plentiful crops of provisions than heretofore; in 
fact, necessity will compel us to pursue that course, 
as our woodland ranges are fast failing, which will 
compel us to winter stock; heretofore we have 
been rid of this duty. This, in the end, will be a 
blessing instead of a misfortune; for where a peo¬ 
ple are dependent on their own resources, they are 
apt to provide more plentifully, than where wood¬ 
land pastures have been their hopes. 
To my knowledge, several sub-soil plows, as 
well as the northern turn-cast plows, have been in¬ 
troduced among us the present season. Those who 
have tried the former, are well satisfied of its utility 
and practicability. The only objection to it, is, that 
it is too heavy—requiring hard labor for two mules 
to draw it;—in fact two mules cannot work for any 
length of time at it. Could we procure one of a size 
or two less, that would work easy for two mules, 
I am of opinion they would become more in use. I 
am using six of the northern turn-cast plow, which 
answer an excellent purpose. The work they do 
is completely satisfactory. The objections to them 
heretofore at the south, particularly in new coun¬ 
tries, were, they could not stand the roots in our 
new lands. This in a great measure depends upon 
two things. First, their manufacture ; second, the 
care used in working with them. If they are pro¬ 
perly made of good materials and faithfully put 
together, they can stand our new lands; for those 
I am now using, have been constantly at work 
since February, and have been plowed through 
lands of various quality and conditions; first and 
second year’s clearings, and stiff, rough ground, 
very root^, with numerous stumps in it. As yet, 
they are as sound and in as good order as the day 
I commenced with them—not even a point has 
given way. I am so much pleased with them in 
all respects, that I shall never be without them 
again so long as they can be procured on reason¬ 
able terms. In moulding or working out corn, they 
leave the ground in such beautiful order, that the 
work to be done with the hoe is much, lightened 
and facilitated ; it is the same with cotton after be- 
