Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-06-01
LIV Z STOCK.
HOW SHEEP SHOULD BE sHEARED.

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published little work, the Shepherds Mar
ual, by III. Stewart:
Sheep should not be shorn until tn
weather has become warm and settled. Ma,
is the usual time for sfearing in the North
ern States. The common shears with
thumb piece on one side, and an easy sprins
no stronger than will be sufficient to MAKE
pressure is the best tool for the shearer
Several new and patented shears have beer
introduced, which the inventors claim may
be used even by inexperienced person with.
out danger Of cutting the sleeps skin. A
trial of these shears does not support this
claim, and the common shears are not yet
superseded by any of these so-called i'm.
provements. The shears should be brought
to a fine, sharp edge upon a fine oil-stone.
The bevel of the cutting edge should be
about $50, or somewhat more than that OF
a COMMON pair Of scissors, and less than
that of a plane-ipon.
The floor Of the ~shearing-room should be
kept perfectly free from straw, chaff or lit
ter, and if a boy is kept constantly at work
with a broom in his hand removing dirt,
tags and rubbish, his time will be we'll en-
ployed. The shearer has better control over
the sheep when On the floor than on the
bench, and the handling is not the same I'M
der both circumstances. In shearing on a
bench the shearer catches the sheep by the
left hind leg, backs it towards the bench,
n rolls it over upon it. He then sets the
sheep ON its rump, and standing with its left
foot upon the bench, lays the sleeps neck
across his left knee, with it's right side
against his body. The two fore-fegs are
then taken under the left arm, and the fleece
is opened up and down along the center of
the belly by small short clips with the
shears. The left side of the belly and brisk
ct are then sheared. The tags are clipped
from the inside of the hind legs and about
the breech, and thrown upon the floor.
They should be swept up at once and gath
cred into a basket, and by no means allowed
to mingle with the fleece wool. The breech
is then shorn as far as can be reached. The
wool from the point OF the shoulder is then
clipped as far as the butt of the ear. The
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to the foretop, proceeding down the side,
taking the for-leg, and going as far over the
back as possiblet which will be two or three
inches past the backbone. When the Joint
Of the thigh 1.-THE stifle) is reached, the shears
are inserted at the inside OF the hook and the
wool shorn around the leg back to the thigh
Joint. The wool over the rump is then
Il --- - - -. -,
shorn past the tail. The sheep is now COM
pletely shorn on one side, and two or three
lnches over on the other side, along the back
from neck to tail. 1t is then taken bv the
left hind leg and swung around with the
BACK to the shearer, leaving some wool be-
aeath the left hip, which will ease the posi-
lon OF the animal and keep it more quiet.
Ihe wool is then shorn from the head and
aeck down the right side, taking the legs
snds Drlsket on the way. The fleece is now
separated. The job is completed by clip
9lhg the tags and loose locks from the legs.
Io'shear on the floor, the sheep is set
lpon ms rump, with the head thrown back
'eneath the left arm of the shearer, and it's =
'ack towards him. The wool is then opened I
&c the neck and clipped downward in reor-
az INES on the right side from belly to back. I
ma over the spine as far as possible on the
'ther side, in much the same manner as has $
llready been described. The sheep is then l
alo on It's shorn side, and the shearer. kneel-
ng on the lett knee and straddline the
neep, With the left loot laid over the sheen,s I
eek, remove the fleece from the left side a
finishing by removing tag-locks from 6
he lers and Scrotnm r., hoa .L. ::