Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-07-28
The Way to shear Sheep.

Inc why TO smear Sneeps
IN the first place procure pair Of
shears that will retain sharp edge after
the blades are put in proper order. No
man can shear at all satisfactorily with
poor shears. After they are ground
true on the edges let them be sharpened
on fne-gritted oilstone. The cutting
edges Of the blades should be ground
beveling, neither too little nor too much.
Let the bevel be about one-third as
much as the bevel on the cutting edge
on a plane-iron. In opening up the
neck or shearing the belly, when it be-
comes necessary to open the wool, let
the shears be worked In gradually, cut
ting the wool of an even plane close to
the skin until they are in and under
meath the wool as far as they will 60;
then raise them, tearing the fleece open.
Thus commence at the point of the
shoulder, working up toward the head.
This prevents cutting the staple along the
of the shears should be clear and COM
plete, and made close to the body. If
a miscut be made, let it go at that; for
if you do leave half inch of wool at
that spot, you get it next shearing, and
if cut now it will be too short to be of
any use to the manufacturer, and will
only injure, in his estimation, the parcel
of wool In which it is discovered. In
shearing on the floor man has better
control of his sheep. If shearing on
bench, catch the sheep by the left hind
leg, back it toward the bench, and roll
it over thereon; set it up on it's butt,
and then, as you stand with your left
foot on the bench, lay the sleeps neck
across your left knee, with his right side
against your body.
Now take the two fore legs under
your left arm, and begin about the
center of the belly and open the fleece
fore and aft. Shear what would be the
left side of the belly if the sheep were
on his feet, also the left side of the
brisket. Now cut off all tags from the
inside of the hind legs with pair of
old shears, and shear the breech as far
as you can reach in this position. Re
turn to the point of the shoulder, going
up under the wool with the shears as
above described to the butt of the ear;
now shear around, taking off the fleece
as an entirety and including the foretop
clear around the neck. You will pro-
ceed thus down the left side, taking the
left fore leg by the way, and shearing
as Ear around the sheep as
practicable while holding it in
the position described, which will
be two or three inches past the
spine. On reaching the hind leg, say
about the stife, you will then insert the
shears at the inside of the hooks (wool
below that point is commonly tags) and
shear around the leg back to where you
left off on the stlfe joint. Should the
sheep persist in kicking at this stage,
place the palm of your hand on the stifle
joint, which causes the leg to lie out
straight. Shear around close to the
breech, or the place shorn when working
on the belly taggings, and go clear
around past the tail, SO that were the
sheep standing on its feet. everything
on the left side, including one to three
inches on the right side from the spine,
from head to tail, including the whole
tail, shall be shorn. Now, taking the
left hind leg (the one that is shorn), in
your left hand, swing the sheep around
with its spine directly toward you, be-
ing careful that some of the fleece goes
nnder him, for his left hip bone, which
| is shorn and bare. now comes in con-
tact with the boards, causing him to lie
uneasily. Now return with the shears
to the head and neck, and go down the
right side, taking in the two legs and
right hand side of the brisket and belly.
You may nov finish up, trimming off
any tags that may have escaped, includ-
ing that wool on the legs below the
knee and hook joints.
It will be seen by this description
that the wool all through the operation
will hang down and have tendency to
fall apart. This is counteracted in
greater measure if the sheep be shorn
on the floor than on a bench, for,
though the same manner of opening
and shearing is. pursued, still, as the
shearer goes down each side, The sheep
lies on the opposite side, and the dis
lance from that point of the fleece
whence the wool is hanging, to that
point On the floor where it is resting, is
not SO great as where the sheep sits on
its rump.
Household Matters.
WOODEN MOTHS. part cloves,
one part rhubarb root, and one part
cedar shavings, say an ounce of each,
tied up in a bag and kept in the trunk
or drawer with the clothes, is a sure
preventive to the ravages of the wooden
moth. Pulverized and well mixed to-
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