530 
'WOOL WASHING. 
down till the soap is solidified by evaporation, but is run into 
the soak-pen as wanted. The lye of the wood-ashes has also 
been used with a noticeable effect. The glycerine which is 
liberated when saponification takes place has, i think, a con¬ 
siderable influence in giving that soft, silky feel which the 
wool from high-bred sheep spout-washed possesses in such a 
marked degree. The quantity of alkali and tallow to form a 
lye for the soak-pen should be regulated by experiment. Much 
depends on the nature of the water, whether hard or soft, also 
on the breed of sheep. The following was used with success : 
—i lb. of caustic soda, 1 lb. tallow, 1 lb. soap. Also another 
lye, equally good, was | lb. caustic soda, 2 lbs. tallow. The 
above quantities were used to every hundred sheep, and were 
found by experiment to be the most suitable. I have found 
that a stronger lye than I recommended last season is neces¬ 
sary to do the work to perfection. The wool this season has 
attained to a much higher average standard of brightness than 
last yearns clip. The number of sheep washed by each spout 
was not so many as I had estimated last season. About 400 
wethers, or 500 ewes and lambs, to each spout, was found a 
full day’s work. I do not think the washing could be done 
better than most of the sheep were washed here this season, 
but it is extremely difficult in the thinly-grassed country of 
the Wimmera to get sheep into the wool-shed perfectly clean. 
When 125,000 have to be brought to the same shed the ground 
gets denuded of grass, and sheep-feeding in the paddock will 
raise dust wherever they go, causing the surface of the fleece 
to get discoloured. The only remedy for this is early shearing, 
so as to have the work over before dust will rise; but reasons 
are so variable, that immunity from dust cannot be relied en. 
Much may be done by good arrangement. A system of pad- 
docks diverging from the wash, into which sheep draw without 
being driven, merely by opening a gate, each of these con¬ 
nected with a shed paddock, so that the sheep have no driving 
till wanted for shearing pets to lead the sheep through any 
difficult place, or into the shed, is of great service. A layer 
of grass or reeds, where the ground is dirty or dusty, and 
watering the yards, will be found of service. A number of 
different entrances to the sheds should be provided, so that 
when one yard gets dirty or dusty a fresh one can be used. 
With all these conveniences, heavy rains, or a hot wind, will 
sometimes spoil a good day’s shearing, so as almost to make 
one wish for the old style of work, when the damage done 
would not have been very noticeable. It is comparatively 
easy to wash the sheep snow-white, but to keep them clean 
till shorn is the problem to solve. English grasses will not 
