) 
SHEAF. 
the poindler, probably because he had public 
authority to poind, (whence pound,) and confine 
the stray cattle, and to demand the fine esta- 
blished by law for the trespass. When these 
pastures were unusually rich, as at the head of 
a lake or by the sides of brooks in the valleys, 
the inhabitants of two or more farms associated 
| together, and ate the grass of their shealings in 
common. This was the season of contentment, 
and .often of | festivity. The women onplloed 
themselves in spinning wool to clothe their 
families, and in making butter and cheese for 
part of their winter provisions ; ; and the youths 
occupied themselves in fishing or athletic exer- 
cises; and at evening the primitive custom of 
dancing on the green and singing Gaelic songs 
was not forgotten. The shealings lasted from 
one to two months or more; and when the pas- 
|| ture was all consumed, ass returned to VALE 
home steads.” 
SHEAF. A bundle of corn bound up on the 
| harvest-field. See the articles Banps, Reaprne, 
and HARVEST. 
SHEARING OF SHEEP. The yearly removal 
of the fleece of sheep with a pair of shears. The 
operation should be performed as soon as the old 
fleece is sufficiently raised from the skin by the 
growth of the young wool. The best time, in most 
cases, when the weather proves fine, is generally 
the early part of June; for when the operation 
is postponed till the latter part of that month, 
or especially till July, the carcase of any of the 
sheep who may be destined to the shambles be- 
fore the close of summer is seriously injured, and 
the bodies of all the rest have not a sufficient 
defence against the mischievous and even de- 
_ structive attacks of flies in the hottest time of 
the year. Hight days or so before the shearing, 
the sheep should be washed; and from that time 
till the day of shearing, they must be kept ina 
clean grass field where they cannot soil their 
wool under banks of earth. See the article 
W asHine or SHEEP. 
The shearing may be done sok under cover 
or in the open air; a large canvass sheet should be 
fastened upon the place, and, if necessary, made 
soft and cushion-like by spreading under it a layer 
of straw ; and a sufficient number of sheep should 
be penned or housed in the immediate vicinity 
to keep the shearer or shearers constantly em- 
ployed. “Everything being arranged, a shearer 
seizes hold of a sheep, and sets it on its rump at 
the tail head; and it is kept in that position by 
resting against his legs. He removes all straws, 
thorns, burs, or other things which may have 
adhered to the wool. In this position, the wool 
igs removed from the head and neck, as far as the 
shoulders, the abdomen, scrotum, and edge of 
the thighs. The head of the animal is then bent 
down sideways, and its ribs on one side are 
curved round. This position is maintained by 
the shearer placing a leg. on each side of the 
neck of the sheep, and pushing out the opposite 
SHEEP. 179 
ribs by pressing his knees gently against the 
ribs nearest to him. ‘The wool is then shorn 
from the far side by the left hand of the shearer, 
by using the shears from the abdomen to the 
middle of the back, down as far as the loins. 
The animal is then placed in a similar position 
in an opposite direction, so that the right hand 
of the shearer is employed to shear the wool 
down to the loin, from the near side of the ani- 
mal. The sheep is then laid flat on its side, and 
kept down by the shearer resting on his knee 
on the ground, and placing the leg between his 
knee, and the foot over its neck. In the position 
which the animal is kept down by the right leg, 
the right hand shears the wool from the near 
side of the hind quarter, and vice versa. 
animal is then set at liberty. The wool shears 
in using should be held close to the body of the 
animal, with their points, which should be 
blunted, a little elevated. Every stroke of the 
shears should be short and narrow, to make a 
clean clip. The clips of the shears appear in | 
concentric rings round the body of the sheep. 
The oil of the wool makes the shears clip smooth- 
ly ; and they are sharpened withawhetstone.” All 
cutting or wounding of the skin during the opera- | 
tion must be carefully avoided ; foreven the small- 
est will afford the flies an opportunity for lodging 
their ovules, and giving rise to maggots; and when | 
any accidentally occurs, it should immediately be 
touched with a little tar, turpentine, resinous 
ointment, or sheep salve. 
put on the newly shorn body, in order to facili- 
tate the separation of the different classes of 
sheep on the farm. All dirty portions of the 
wool about the tail ought to be removed with 
the shears, and put together by themselves ; and 
the separated fleece should be taken away by 
attendant women, and treated and laid past in 
the manner mentioned in the article FuExcn. 
A shorn flock should be repeatedly examined 
soon after the shearing, with the view of detect- 
ing depositions of fly ovules ; and all tumours in- 
dicative of these should be opened and rubbed 
with a little mercurial ointment. An ordinarily 
good workman will shear from 15 to 25 sheep a 
day ; and a very expert one will shear more. 
SHEARLING. A sheep that has been once 
shorn. 
SHEARS. A large clipping instrument. Sev- 
eral kinds, of very different size and shape, and 
for widely different purposes, are used on farms. 
The sheep shears of the present day seem to be 
the same in form as the sheep shears used by the 
ancient Romans. 
SHED. See Farm-Buripines. 
SHEEP. A well known and important genus 
of ruminating animals. It comprises several 
wild species and a vast number of domesticated 
varieties or breeds. It is most extensively dif- 
fused, and exists and feeds and prospers under a 
vast diversity of conditions. The interest of it, 
in all its forms, to a zoologist, is very great ; and 
The | 
A mark is commonly | 
