San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-07-24
sHEARING CITY SHEEP.
An Intere sting Annual Operation
in New York.
The OGiciaI In Charge Has Trouble with .
New-Fangled iClipper and sours on
the Lob-Particulars of the
Process.


Every year the sixty odd sheep in
Central park are shorn of their heavy
winter coats, and the wool is sold by
auction to the highest bidder. The
shearing this year was rather more in
teresting than in former years, says the
New York Tribune. 1t is great fun to
watch the perspiring shearers strug-
Cling with the frantic sheep, some of
which kick like young steers, and make
things lively for those handling them.
Some bright man suggested to the park
commission that time could be saved,
more wool taken off, and less profanity
would be provoked if the sheep were
sheared by machinery, instead of by
hand. Accordingly, machine, which
is of pattern in general use among
farmers, was shipped to the sheepfold
at Sixty-sixth street. The shepherd
unpacked it and gleefully expatiated
upon the trouble and time which would
be saved by its use. In appearance it
resembles tricycle., with the unfor-
tunate sheep as passenger. while the
pedals, worked by the operator, actuate
the clipping apparatus. The clipper is
worked by a flexible shaft, and looks
like an ordinary horse clipper. One
man can shear sheep by hand, but
three men are required to do so by ma
chine. The sheep is held in the frame
by one man, the pedal is worked by an
other, while the clipping is done by
third.
When all was ready struggling eve
was brought and firmly held in the
wooden frame, while the shepherd,
with determined eye, started the fly
wheel humming by vigorous applica-
ton Of the pedal. The shearer grasped
the clipper and applied it to the breast
of the unfortunate sheep. "Now you'll
see the wool fy," said the shepherd,
with a wink. What wool did fly was
not off the sheep, but off the trousers
of the man holding the animal. Her
sharp hoofs made his clothes look much
the worse for wear in about three Sec
onds. Meanwhile the machine had
come to a standstill, despite the fran
tic efforts of the shepherd.
"Why don't you pedal, man?" roared
the shearer.
The shepherd said nothing, but, wip-
ing the drops from his brow, went to
work and soon had the wheel humming
again. AS soon as the clipper touched
the fleece there was a slight scurry of
wool and then the machine came to
dead stop. The shepherd refused to
pedal any more, and another man
tried it, but soon gave it up. After
some caustic remarks it was determined
to go back to the old way and shear
the sheep by hand.
The machine when worked by man
power operates very well on country
sheep, but the sheep in Central park
are of pure breed. Careful feeding
and housing make them grow wool at
rate which would make Texas sheep
farmer open his eyes. The fieeces often
run to fourteen pounds in weight and
are extremely dense. A clipper which
will run through an ordinary fleece as
easily as knife cuts butter, soon gets
clogged when it meets with a jacket
such as is worn by the Central park
sheep.
In shearing the Central park sheep
much more care is taken than is the
case among farmers. The sheep are
expected to present good appearance
in the park, and great attention is paid
to giving an even clipping to the coat
After the operation the sheep are I'M
tremendously dumped into trough of
salt water. The salt combines with the
oil on the animals back, and when Wig
orously rubbed develops soapy lather.
This cleans the skin thoroughly, and
when the eve scrambles out of the
trough she is as white as driven snow.
The surplus sheep and buck lambs
are also sold at auction, together with
the wool, and fetch high prices. They
are bought by farmers to improve their
strain of sheep by infusing high-bred
blood. Those in Central park are GER
tainly as fine sheep as one could wish
to see, and great pride is taken in them
by the park shepherd. He will not in
dulge them in machine hair cut and
shampoo again, however, so he says,
unless he can get a four-horse-power
engine to assist him.