Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1874-08-27

"a farmer Of Porter, 1lioh., ~ ID tho
.lnts,. Ocea,,sas olloNs ((1la Doeg 81
injnrs shsspsto 10 q Rsm, q ould
Is bs more profits BE "a CLIP t.a 81 xtyooll
without sashipg
REpLY Tho irst question 10 an
swer unquali6 sdly Jes. The wask ing
81 sheep Is not only 90 injury % tho
animal, but d crusl, inhuansn, and un..
called for. "a the Alst place, Il mat
terss little how carsfully the sheep may
30 driven To- the place whore they ara
70 be washed, they become heated, and
their heavy deeoes. keep them IL ! oon-
dition that renders il . positive injury
to plunge them into cold water, and
produces : reaction il the system that
must make itself felt to the injury Of
the animal. Again, 1yter washing
sheep il i impossible q dry them, and
they are compelled to carry their assoss,
soaked With from ten 70 twenty pounds
Of water, which viii require q least 8
week for ito perfect evaporation. What
farmer, who believes in this barbarous
practice, would feel willing to wear 1
suit Of vet clothes constantly for
week, and 1t night lie down in vet
bed? Would he wonder if, ut the end
of the time, he had = tolerab y we'll do
vcloped case Of rheumati am or the
ague7 And, in fact, the practice is
also dan gerous one to tho person who
performs it. Besides many sheep are
killed by the rough handling they re-
ceivo from unskillful men. This prac-
ticc of washing sheep, however, is dis
countenanced by tho most intelligent
breeders and wool-growers, and it
should long ago have become obsolete.
ca It ought to be more profitable, to
clip wool unwashod, but in some port.
ion Of the country is not SO, it We
leave out Of tho question the damage
to the flock. The Eastern manutac-
:turers' prefer to purchase unwashedi wool
at slight di scount. This question of
purchasing UNIV ashed wool was thoro.
ughly discussed at convention Of
the National Association OF Wool
Manufactures, held at Syracuse, N. Y :,
in 1865, in which the representative
wool manufactures took the ground in
favor Of the unwashel fleece, because
there was no uniformity in the washing
rendering it impossible to fix fair
percentage Of discount between the
washed and tho unwashed fleece, and
also because the unwashed wool kept
and wo, ked better. The rule Of dis
counting unwashed wool is not insisted
upon by the manufacturer and that pro-
st goes to the middIemon's pocket. II
a manufacturer buys quantity of un-
washed wool, its price is fixed by its
quality and merits, without reference
to what it would be If it was washed.
If, however, single lot Of wool con-
tains both wash ed and urwashed feec-
then basis of discount is necessary.
II happens frequently that commits
sion man will buy two lots Of wool Of
two neighbors, ono lot being washed
and the other unwashed-rhe washed
lot brings certain price ond the other
is discounted, and yet the unwashcd
moiety may bring the higher price per
pound at the Eastern market. This 'is
one Of tie tricks of the wool trade. So
far as dollars and cents are concerned,
if one is dealing with commission men,
it is probably more profitable to about
half wash tue sheep; but if ono raises
a good quality Of wool and deal direct
II with the manufacturer, or his agent,
it is more profitable to clip the wool
without washing.
IA few words as to shearing. Let
it he done by kind and careful hand
SO as not to cut the tender skin, We
hare seen poor, defenssless sheep cruel.
'y married, their skins being cut iu
many plaors clear into the flesh There
is no need of this-a careful hand Will
remove the fleece without drawing a
drop Of b!ood.]