1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR 
173 
tions, it is impossible to make a fine flavored cheese. 
The curd works tough and stubborn, and eheese is in¬ 
variably of a harsh rank flavor. If this practice should 
be reversed,-and the low lands used for meadows, and 
the elevated, warmer portions grazed, no doubt a great 
improvement would be made in our dairy products. 
More care is required in working curd where whey 
and grain is fed, than when cows are grazed, as the 
milk is richer, and the cheese more apt to be harsh- 
flavored j when cows are in heat, their milk should not 
be put with the rest, till thoroughly cooled. It is often 
rank and hitter , and will sour in a few hours. If cows 
eat salt largely, beware of soft leaky cheese; it retards 
the effect of rennet to decompose. Salt should lay 
by the cows that they may take a little daily. Corn 
sowed in drills will produce more milk, arising from 
cultivation and the effect of sun and air. If fed when 
too old, it is not succulent, and will dry up the milk. 
WASMIMif ANI> SHEARING SHEEP. 
These operations are frequently performed at an ear¬ 
lier day than is proper in this latitude. Cold storms 
and frosty nights are not unfrequent with us till June, 
and before the middle of this month, we think it is un¬ 
safe to deprive sheep of their winter covering. The 
exposure and suffering which they are often obliged to 
endure after being shorn, is very injurious, sometimes 
producing deep-seated and fatal diseases, and in other 
cases suddenly overpowering the system and causing 
immediate death. Even with all practicable precau¬ 
tion the animal experiences a great transition, which 
must be very trying to the constitution, under the influ¬ 
ence of cold and moisture. In fact scarcely a season 
passes that we do not hear of numbers of newly shorn 
sheep perishing from severe weather. 
The process of washing, when sheep are immersed 
in very cold water, is also prejudicial to their health, 
and is besides objectionable from the imperfect manner 
in which the work is done under such circumstances. 
Exposed to undue cold, the men are impatient to get 
through their disagreeable job,and they hurry along with¬ 
out sufficient regard to the cleanliness of the fleece. The 
wool too, is by no means so readily cleaned in cold wa¬ 
ter as in warm. It is best, therefore, to defer wash¬ 
ing till the water is raised to at least a hearable tem¬ 
perature. A shallow stream of soft water, in which, 
by means of a dam, the requisite depth can be obtain¬ 
ed, is preferable. 
It is proper that the ground at the bottom and 
around the water where the sheep are washed, should 
be of such a nature as not to render the water impure, 
and that the sheep may pass out after being washed 
•without any mud or dirt coming in contact with their 
fleeces. To secure these objects, the reservoir is some¬ 
times paved, extending the stones above the edges of 
the water till they are made to join a clean firm sward. 
Sometimes a cistern or vat, for washing sheep, is con¬ 
structed and placed at the foot of the dam, and the 
water conveyed into it from the reservoir. We have 
seen sheep very nicely washed on this plan. 
It is useful to sprinkle water on the sheep after they 
are collected for washing, and let them stand for a few 
hours before they are washed. This dampening of the 
fleece causes the impurities to separate more readily 
on washing, and the wool will appear beautifully white 
and clean. Leaving the sheep out in a warm rain, and 
washing them soon after, generally cleanses the fleece 
well. 
Fine-wooled, or Merino' and Saxon sheep, require 
much more attention and labor to wash their fleeces 
perfectly clean, than the coarser-wooled English sheep. 
The long-wooled varieties, as the Leicester, Cotswold, 
&c., can be washed without much trouble, so clean that 
the wool will scarcely shrink in weight in the hands of 
the scourer—or in the process of preparation for the 
manufacturer—whereas ordinary merino wool loses 
from thirty to fifty per cent. 
The sheep should be kept in a clean pasture after 
being washed, till they are sheared, which should be 
done as soon as they become entirely dry, and they 
will require from four days to a week for this purpose. 
The best shearers should be employed—such as will 
cut the wool sufficiently close to the body, without cut¬ 
ting the skin, and at the same time cut smoothly and 
evenly. Each fibre should be cut once, and but once. 
The short bits of wool which are sometimes clipped off 
by shearers are worthless, and the torture to which 
the sheep is sometimes subjected by cutting its skin, is 
not only cruel but really injurious. 
When sheep have been shorn, it is best to allow them 
to remain for a few days where they can have the be¬ 
nefit of shade. Exposure to a hot sun, while the ani¬ 
mals are comparatively naked, frequently blisters the 
skin; and besides occasioning the animal much pain, 
evidently injures the quality of the first growth of wool. 
It deranges the cutaneous secretions and renders the 
wool harsher and drier. If they are allowed shade, 
they will not expose themselves to the heat of the sun, 
as they graze only at night and early in the morning. 
Should a storm, or unusually cold weather occur, the 
floek should either have the shelter of woods, or be 
driven to their winter quarters at the farm-yard, till 
the temperature becomes more congenial. 
In regard to securing the fleece , the following re¬ 
marks of Mr. Blanchard, proprietor of the “ Wool- 
Depot” at Kinderhook, are deserving attention. 
u After shearing, the fleece should be removed to a 
table or clean smooth place on the floor, with the in¬ 
ner part down; then be gathered up into as compaet a 
position as it occupied when on the sheep; the sides of 
the fleece should then be folded over, so as to meet up¬ 
on the back of the fleece; the head and neck thrown 
back so as to make the fold upon the shoulder; next be 
folded or rolled from the butt of the fleece and contin¬ 
ued until you reach the shoulder. The fleece should 
then be snugly tied with a small smooth twine, passing 
round two or at most three times. You thus have a 
compact fleece, easy to open, and the shoulder, which 
is the the finest part, upon the outside. Buyers always 
expect to see the best side out , and wool growers some¬ 
times do themselves injustice by not thus exhibiting 
their fleeces. I do not believe that the manufacturers, 
as a whole, in this country, are yet prepared to pay a 
sufficient advance beyond the present prices, to justify 
the grower of wool to remove all the fribs, belly locks, 
and skirts from the fleece, as is done with the fine 
wools of Germany. I would therefore, at present, put 
inside of the fleece all the well-washed and clean wool 
shorn from the sheep—carefully excluding all such locks 
as are filthy, or below the residue of the fleece in con¬ 
dition.” 
The regular growth of wool, in order to produce a 
staple of uniform quality is of great importance. Mr. 
Blanchard, on the occasion of delivering the remarks 
we have above quoted, (one of the weekly agricultural 
