Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-11-21
SHEEP SHEARINo.
E1pertness Of Professional shcarers
In New South Wales.

Espertness Of Professional shearers
In New South Wales.
Most Of our readers would probably
think that to shear. say, twenty or
thirty sheep. would be as much as the
most skillful and Industrious shearer
could do In long days work. They
may. then, says Chambers journal,
be interested to know what vastly
greater numbers are expected to pass
through the dcft hands Of q capable
craftsman In the pastoral regions Of
the great sheep.keeping colony Of New
South Wales. Our notes have been
collected on the spot.
The number of sheep q man can
shear In q day Of eight and a half hours
Is governed by several circumstances
over and above the shearer's expert
ness, depending mainly on the class Of
sheep and the nature Of the country
over which the sheep have pastured.
OF all the breeds Of sheep merimos
are the most difficult to shear. In
the first place, they are very "throaty"
that is, the skin covering the neck
lies in large. loose folds, so that manip.
ulation with the shears Is Mt best tedi.
Gus and troublesome. Then, again,
they possess what Is technically known
a. the "points" of the breed-they are
wooded to the tip Of the nose and down
the legs to the hoofs; 1t IL these So
called points" that take up time.
Sheep grazing over pastures whero
burs, grass seeds, twigs, etc, are nu.
merous, or over coarse, sandy coun.
try, pick up In their fleece quantities
Of foreign matter that blunt the shears
during the process Of shearing. It win
at once be seen that this especially AZ.
piles to short.legged sheep, heavily
fieeced as the merinos are to tho ex.
tremities of their limbs. The time
taken up sharpening his shears IA q
serious consideration to the shearcr.
Bad or careless shearers. in order
to give the sheep the appearance Of
being properly shorn. may either
"shingle" or feather" the neeces they
cut OF. BY "shingling" Is meant max.
ing O second cut over the same part
Of the body Of the sheep. the nrst ssv.
ering the staple toward the center.
and the second close to the skin: yet
the whole fleece holds together and
the damage may not be detected till
closely examined. On the contrary,
"feathering" Is plainly seen as soon
a. the fleece Is shaken out; here the
clip has been uneven. leaving patches
Of longer wool to be severed by sec.
ond cut. This leaves a quantity Of
short wool In the inside the fleece
which readily separates when the
fleece Is unrollcd. "Shingling" Is tho
worst fault. as 1t quite ruins the sta
pie for combing purposes.
In the mountain districts west OF
the table-land the average number OF
sheep fairly good man will shear In
a day Of eight and half hours varies
from seventy to 40. ON the northern
plains near the Queensland border the
average Is 100 to 10: aud 1t Is on rec
ord that the champion shcarer OF
Queensland clipped 327 sheep In nine
hours. Such man, In the Language
Of "the seed" Is termed "ringcr."
In the central plains on the Lachlar
River the average Il eighty to 40
With machines the numbers are. Of
course. considerably more. The mer
are paid Fl per 100 sheep; and out o.
this they have to provide rations
shears, sharpening.s stones, oil, etc.