80 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Shearing of Sheep. 
Messrs. Editors— In the last number of the Cultivator, I 
served, up a partial dish to your readers on the subject of “ tag¬ 
ging ana washing of sheep," with an expose of the abuses con¬ 
nected therewith. 
It is my intention to be equally practical on the present sub¬ 
ject, and quite as plain in my condemnation of the slovenli¬ 
ness, and I regret to sa y, frauds, which not a few farmers de¬ 
signedly practice on the manufacturer, during this process. I 
do not indulge the expectation of being able to enlighten my 
brother veteran wool-growers; my purpose being to throw out 
some available information for the benefit of those less expe¬ 
rienced than myself; and I will add, to endeavor to impress 
upon all, the importance, on the score of national reputation, 
as well as the promotion of individual interest, of elevating the 
character of our wool in point of cleanliness, to at least the 
standard of that exported by the “ retired gentlemen" of New 
South Wales and Botany Bay. 
The proper time for shearing, varies of course, with the cli¬ 
mate ; it being a violation of humanity to attend to this impor¬ 
tant matter before the weather is sufficiently warm. At the 
eastward, the time chosen is from the 10th to the 20th of June, 
and in western New-York and Pennsylvania, from the 1st to 
the 10th. There are seasons, when it is impolitic to begin as 
soon; but at all events, let me here warn the inexperienced 
never to commence until the weather is really warm;,other¬ 
wise, there will frequently be a loss of life, or a foundation laid 
of diseases, which will eventually lead to the same result. 
This remark is particularly applicable to the finer grades of 
sheep. A period of a week should elapse—unless the wea¬ 
ther is exceedingly warm—between washing and shearing, in 
order that the wool may become perfectly dried, and more es¬ 
pecially, the oil diffused through the fleece. There is an ad¬ 
vantage in this, for the reason that the fleece is somewhat in¬ 
creased in weight, and animation and softness are restored. 
A writer in relating the Spanish custom, says—“ Their shear¬ 
ing buildings are very simply constructed, and consist only of 
two large rooms, each of which will contain more than a thou¬ 
sand sheep ; there is also a narrow, low, long hut adjoining, 
termed the sweating house. The sheep are all driven into one 
of these apartments, and in the evening, those intended to be 
shorn the following day are transferred into the low long hut. 
As many are forced into it as it will possibly hold, and there 
they are left during the night. As some are liberated in the 
morning, the others are urged towards the end of the hui, 
while more from the apartment occupy their situation. In 
consequence of this close confinement, they are thrown into 
a state of great perspiration; the yolk, which formed a some¬ 
what hard crust on the fleece, is melted, and thus the whole 
is rendered softer, and is more easily cut." This last remark 
will appear very obvious to a practical shearer, as he very well 
knows that an “oily fleece” cuts easier than a dry one. But 
the Spanish custom seems barbarous and inhuman, for it must 
necessarily cause much suffering to the sheep; yet I acknow¬ 
ledge it is somewhat necessary, considering the indurated na¬ 
ture of the yolk peculiar to the Spanish Merino. The writer 
above quoted, further says, “ from 150 to 200 shearers are ge¬ 
nerally collected, and a nock of a thousand sheep is disposed 
of in a day, although five rams , or eight ewes are reckoned a 
good day’s work for a Spanish shearer!” “ A lazy set of ras¬ 
cals there, that is clear,” says my honest neighbor, Ben Ro¬ 
gers. 
It would be proper here, to refer to the inconveniences 
which many farmers suffer, for want of the proper spirit to 
rectify them, in regard to yards or pens, for the reception of 
their flocks; but other matters of more importance, urge me 
to defer it to another time, when I will give you a plan of my 
shearing house, and the necessary appendages. 
My subject next leads me to remark, how rare is a good 
shearer ? This, considering the aptness and skill of our coun¬ 
trymen in the mechanic arts, and I may say, in all the diver¬ 
sified divisions of labor, appears somewhat singular. It is ea¬ 
sily to be accounted for however; the causes are several, the 
principal of which must be laid to the door of farmers, for the 
generality are too apt to appreciate a shearer in proportion to 
the number of fleeces he takes off in a day, not being particu¬ 
lar how it is done. The consequence is, that the learner “ cuts 
in,” and recklessly dashes ahead to accomplish what is called 
a day’s work; and the errors that he then contracts, unfits 
him ever afterward from attaining perfection in the art. This 
standard must be thrown aside, otherwise good shearers will 
continue to be, as now, few and far between. The most skil¬ 
ful man at this business, is he who will shear from thirty to 
forty full grown sheep in a day, cuts the wool with one clip of 
the shears, and not in twain, as one shearing too fast wili do, 
shears even, leaves the least wool, and cuts not the skin; one 
that will do all this, is a good shearer. On the contrary, if a 
man attempts to shear much beyond the above number, he 
will violate either a part, or the whole of these rules; and the 
wool which the sheep will carry away will far more than 
amount in value to his wages. 
With a view to increase the number of good shearers, it has 
been my practice, for a number of years past, to teach some 
of my monthly laborers this important art; and if your read¬ 
ers will bear with me, I will inform them the points of instruc¬ 
tion. The first is, to teach them howto catch a sheep, which 
I am free to say, not one in five hundred understands. I 
shall not attempt to describe the common and inhuman me¬ 
thod, which might, however, be well compared to the rough and 
tumble manner of a dog dragging a wood-chuck from his bur¬ 
row. My way is, to throw the right arm around the body of 
the sheep, grasping the brisket with the hand, then lift it, and 
with the other, take every thing off adhering to the feet, par¬ 
ticularly straw, which, otherwise finds its way upon the floor, 
and thence into the fleece. This is one of the sorts of hair too 
often found in the butter. The next step is to teach him how 
to hold and cut with his shears, for otherwise, there are ten 
chances to one that he will contract a bad habit, which will 
result in his cutting not only wool, but as honest Ben 
says, “ as much hide in the course of the day, as will serve for 
a good sized leather apron.” After this, he is taught those 
positions of the sheep which will much facilitate his work and 
afford the least pain to the animal; besides many little mat¬ 
ters not essential to mention, but an observance of which is 
necessary to prepare the way for perfection. Let your pupil 
take it easy the first day, and keep him as cool as possible, al¬ 
though it you mark how the sweat rolls "from the poor fellow, 
you will think it rather difficult. But let him blow, and give 
him the line; ten or twelve is enough for him the first day, 
otherwise he will complain of shearing being aback-breaking 
business; then succeeds dislike to it, and adieu to his ever 
arriving at skilmlness. By adopting a judicious course you 
will fetch hun under the yoke. For instance ; several years 
since one of my monthly hands, who was previously wholly 
unacquainted with the art, commenced and sheared fifteen the 
first day, and after a service at it of five or six successive days, 
by exciting his ambition with encouraging language, he ac¬ 
complished nearly double that number; and the following 
year he sheared forty per day, and performed his work admi¬ 
rably. I his is only one of several instances which was fol- 
lowed with like success. 
Now it is the practice of very many wool growers to employ 
onlythose who profess to understand the art already; if we 
all did so, when decrepitude and death had thinned their 
ranks, where would we look for shearers ? One of my neigh¬ 
bors told me, “ that he could not even teach a hand to catch a 
sheep to suit him, much less to shear it.” “ Do not be so par¬ 
ticular, ’ said I, “all beginners are bunglers, and become ex¬ 
pert and skillful only by practice; instead of fretting and scold¬ 
ing, speak kindly and encouragingly; say to him tbe second 
was sheared better than the first, and the third still better than 
the second, and then you’ll ‘come Yankee over him,’ not 
without.” It appears to me, Messrs. Editors, if the plan I 
have adopted and recommended, could become general, we 
should soon increase the number of good shearers, and there¬ 
by remedy one of the many evils, namely, in numerous in¬ 
stances, of allowing sheep to run too long after washing. 
I will now quote from a London publication, tbe English 
niodus operandi, in reference to this subject, as generally, al¬ 
though not uniformly, followed throughout the Kingdom. 
“A barn or shed into which plenty of light can be admitted 
near the shearers, should be selected, and a part of the floor 
covered with a large canvass sheet, on which two shearers 
can operate. The sheet should be nailed down, and a little 
straw placed under it to soften it as a cushion. Tbe floor of 
the barn should be swept out quite clean, and a light broom 
should be at hand to sweep the sheet when necessary. Every 
thing being arranged, a shearer seizes a sheep and sets it on 
its rump, and keeps it in this position by resting the back 
against his own legs. He removes all straws, thorns, burs, 
&c., that may have adhered to the wool. While thus held, 
the wool is removed from the head and neck so far as the 
shoulders, and also from the belly, the scrotum, and the edge 
of the thighs. The head of the animal is then bent down side- 
wavs, and the shearer, placing a leg on each side of the neck 
of the sheep, pushes out the opposite ribs by pressing his knees 
gently against the ribs that are nearest to him. He next shears 
the wool from the far side with his left hand, from the belly to 
the middle of the back, and as far down as the loins. The 
sheep is now turned, and the right hand is employed to shear 
the wool from the near side. The sheep is then laid flat on 
its side, and kept down by the shearer with his face towards 
the rump of the sheep, resting his right knee on the ground in 
front of the neck, and his right toe being brought to the ground 
a little behind and below the poll; the head and neck of tbe 
sheep are thus confined by bis right leg, while be uses bis 
right hand to shear the wool from the hind quarter. In this 
way the clips of the shears will appear in concentric rings 
round the body of the sheep. Tbe dirty portions of wool about 
the tail are then removed by the shears and kept by them¬ 
selves; the outside of the fleece is folded inwards, beginning 
at the sides, and narrowing the whole fleece into a strip about 
two feet wide. The strip is then rolled firmly up from the 
tail end towards the neck, the wool of which is stretched out 
and twisted into a rope, and wound round the fleece to give it 
a cylindrical shape.” 
1 his method meets my approbation, although it varies some¬ 
what from rules to which I have long adhered. A few days 
before the commencement of shearing, the floor of my shear¬ 
ing house is thoroughly scrubbed; on which stands, during 
the process, two long benches or tables, placed against the 
long side of the building, which are some 12 feet in length, 4 
in vvidth, and about two in height; one of which is used for 
rolling the fleeces, and the other for the sake of convenience, 
for placing them on until it is full, and from them they are re¬ 
moved to the wool loft in the second story. After the shearer 
catches his sheep, if it is in the least filthy, (which by the way 
is rare in my flock, owing to having been well tagged) it is at 
once carried to the door, and the dirty wool taken off, in or¬ 
der to prevent its being intermingled with the fleece, which 
cannot otherwise be well avoided. Then the shearer resumes 
his particular stand, placing the sheep on its rump, and in¬ 
stead of beginning on the head and neck, according to tbe 
English mode above quoted, commences on the brisket, thence 
down the belly and about half of the sides to the edges of the 
flanks ; also the thighs inside and out; after which he ascends 
from the brisket along the neck, cutting the front and both 
sides of it, as well as both sides of the head. The sheep is 
then laid flat on its side, its neck being between the knee and 
toes of the shearer, he cuts in a continued line from the flank 
to the poll until the line of the back is reached; the sheep be¬ 
ing then carefully turned, to permit the fleece from being torn, 
the other side is served in the same way, which completes it. 
The sheep is then taken near the door, and the legs are neat¬ 
ly trimmed, all the wool of which, that is of any value, is scra¬ 
ped up and put in a large basket; all else is swept out of 
doors. Then the sheep is marked, not the ears, for this is 
done when they are lambs at the time of weaning, but with an 
iron formed to represent the letter O, or a diamond, with a 
handle attached, and with black paint, marking the ewes up¬ 
on ihe left shoulders, the wethers on the right, and the bucks 
on the rump. Tnis is surely much better taste, than a huge 
daub of Spanish brown, or ill formed letters made of tar, and 
covering the whole broadside of the sheep. 
The fleece having been removed from the floor to the roll¬ 
ing bench, the dirty locks, if any, are put into the basket, the 
good put with the fleece, and the shearer’s stand swept clean. 
The fleece is carefully spread out, the inside next to the bench; 
after which it is pushed togetner from all parts, for the sake 
of compactness and ease of rolling; the skirts and ragged 
sides separated, and thrown into the center; all the sides are 
then laid over so as to form an oblong square; after this the 
long sides are rolled towards each other till they meet, which 
is done by resting one of the arms from the elbow flat upon 
the wool, and rolling with the other (which by the way can¬ 
not be very well done without the aid of a boy) making a strip 
of from 6 to 10 inches in width; next the boy rolls from his 
end and stops at the middle, where he is met by my end, and 
then his part is rolled on top of mine, where it is held until the 
twine is passed around and tied; after which I pass the twine 
around crosswise, which effectually secures it, no matter how 
roughly handled. This mode differs from many others, but it 
has ease and despatch to recommend it. I have for many 
years rolled, with the aid of a small boy, all the fleeces shorn 
on the farm on which I reside, and have had no difficulty in 
keeping up with six or seven shearers, besides attending to the 
floor. One word here in regard to securing fleeces. Mr. 
Lawrence, in his letter appended to my last communication, 
recommends the example of his friends, H. D. Grove and Dan¬ 
iel Rogers, which is, to bind the fleeces by twisting a band 
from the tail or flanks. I fear not until all our flocks have 
been brought to the requisite fineness of those gentlemen, will 
the course he commends be adopted, for the reason that wool 
growers in general do not like to expose the coarsest part of 
the fleece. Small and very fine wooled fleeces can be tho 
roughly secured in this way; not so with medium or coarse. 
It is too bad however, to make the manufacturers pay for 
more twine than is necessary; sixty-six feet around each fleece 
is just twenty times too much. [Vide the letter above referred 
to.] My fleeces after being folded and secured, represent 
somewhat the form of a cheese, which enables me to store 
them in my wool loft, without falling down, or presenting a 
slovenly appearance. I arrange my wool on three sides of 
116 W room ! so as to represent the ascending seats of an 
amphitheatre; and in this situation—excuse my laudable van¬ 
ity—it would do your eyes good, gentlemen, to take a look at 
it. 
I have already alluded to the inhumanity of beginning to 
shear before the weather is suitably warm. I again warn the 
inexperienced against the cruel practice of permitting sheep, 
immediately after they are shorn, to be exposed to cold rains, 
for it not only causes excruciating suffering, but death will be 
often the result, especially if the sheep are grades of the Me¬ 
rino and Saxony. This hint will be approved by every old 
wool grower, for there are few of us who have not had our 
knuckles well rapped by neglect of it. A warm shower need 
not alarm; but I repeat, beware of cold rains, and let your 
sheep be driven under cover at the very commencement of it, 
and you may rely from their extreme sensitiveness to cold at 
this time, they will gladly remain until it is over. 
At the time of shearing, there are other matters requiring 
particular attention, namely, sawing of horns which are likely 
to grow into the head or eyes of the sheep, and cutting the 
hoofs, which, with fine wooled sheep, not uncommonly grow 
to an uncouth length. Formerly, I attended to these things 
at this time, but I have learned that shearers are so careless, 
unless constantly watched, they are liable to let some go, not 
minding this attention. One thing at a time, whatever it is, 
secures its being well done. There are other matters, also, 
which I will refer to in my next chapter. 
It was my intention to have “ showed up” the abominable 
frauds practiced by many farmers on the manufacturer, by 
enclosing within the fleece, dung locks and trash of all descrip¬ 
tions, with a view to increase its weight. But, gentlemen, it 
is a lovely day, and to attempt it, would onlv destroy my pre¬ 
sent very amiable mood; besides, I have already encroached 
much farther on your valuable columns than I intended. Ap¬ 
ropos the anecdote of the “ traveler and hostess,” which will 
suffice, and brings me to a conclusion. 
Once upon a time a traveler stopped at an inn and called 
for a repast, which, on being spread before him, he discover¬ 
ed something which caused not a little disgust, and at once 
betrayed the sluttishness of the hostess, namely, hairs in the 
butter. The traveler being possessed of more than an ordina¬ 
ry share of equanimity of temper, instead of being indignant 
at this outrageous departure from the clean thing, he only mild¬ 
ly and graciously requested of her ladyship, that the next time 
he called, she would oblige him by putting her hairs on one 
plate, and the butter on the other; and if he thought it desira- 
rable, he would wife; for himself. So with the manufacturers. 
If we will persist in enclosing within our fleeces, filth, burs, 
clippings, &c., they implore us to put all that sort o’ thing in 
one sack, and our clean wool in another, in order that they may 
determine the relative value; and peradventure they find it to 
their interest to mix them, that they may have .that privilege to 
themselves. But they greatly prefer, for our especial benefit, 
that we retain all “ding balls” or lumps of manure, for the 
improvement of our soil. 
Now, my brother wool growers, inasmuch as we may sure¬ 
ly depend on receiving remunerating prices for the coming 
clip, let us clear the track, all start fair, and go for a chan race 5 , 
and the prizes will be a clean price, and clearer consciences. 
Yours truly, L. A. MORRELL. 
■Lansing, Tompkins Co. N. Y., Feb. 26. 
Transportation of Cattle. 
Messrs. Gaylord &, Tucker— The calls have been so fre¬ 
quent for information as to prices for transportation of cattle, 
pigs, &c., that to save future inquiries, I send you for publica¬ 
tion, the following. Messrs Gelston & Evans, responsible 
forwarding merchants of Buffalo, as agents for “ The Western 
Transportaiion Co.,” will forward them during the coming 
season, at the following rates, and furnish them ordinary food 
and attention on their passage: 
For grown cattle between New-York and Euffalo, • • $16 
One pair young pigs in compact box,. 4 
One sheep,. 4 
For grown cattle between Albany and Buffalo, ••• • 12 
One pair pigs inbox,. 3 
One Sheep,. 3 
For grown cattle from Buffalo to Detroit,. 7 
One pair 1 igs in box,. j 
One sheep,. 1 
For grown cattle from Buffalo to Chicago,. 15 
One pair pigs in box,. 4 
One sheep, . 2 
For grown cattle from Buffalo to Portsmouth, thro 7 
the Ohio canal to the Ohio river,. 16 
One pair pigs in box,. 4 
One sheep,. 4 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
00 
50 
00 
00 
00 
25 
00 
00 
00 
There is no species of freight so variable in price, as live 
stock ; it being a most undesirable article of transportation, it 
is always avoided when other freight is to be obtained ; and it 
was with considerable reluctance, Messrs. G. &. E. were 
willing to name prices at which they are willing at all times to 
carry them. It may be proper to add, that where persons ac¬ 
company stock, and furnish their own food and attention, the 
price would be considerably lessened; or if a considerab e lot 
was sent at once, and especially during the middle of'the sea¬ 
son, when freight is less abundant. Respectfully yours, 
Buffalo, March 20, 1841. R. L. ALLEN. 
