The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1901-08-02
Dipping sheep

The dipping of sheep is an annual
duty for every sheep breeder to fol.
low or should be so considered. Many
shepherds from laziness or some other
similarly senseless reason or none, neg
lect to dip their sheep with the result
that they lose a good deal of growth
that might otherwise be set down &c
profit and also run the risk of getting
skin disease among their sheep which
will be found very hard to eradicate
after it has once become well rooted
There was a time when the dipping
OF sheep was rather a formidable I'M
dertaking for the reason that people
did not have the proper appliances anc
at the same time had to concoct won
derful brews of dope in which to i'm
merse the unfortunate animals. Al
that time the dipping tank with its
runways and dripping platforms was
unknown and dips used were largely
home productions of highly poison.
Gus character. Numbers of sheep were
poisoned annually, some from ABSORB.
ton of arsenic or corrosive sublimate
others from taking the arsenic into
their stomachs while grazing pastures
where sheep had been turned out after
dipping in arsenical dips. Nowadays
the construction OF proper dipping
tanks is we'll understood and there are
numbers of effective dips upon the
market which merely require the ad.
dition of water to make them ready
affoaffxro Tho do.
struction OF ticks or for the cure oil
scab. OF the dips referred to the most
easily prepared for use are those made
from tar and of these may be cited the
popular, economical and effective ones
advertised in our columns. There has
and con as to the merits and dement's
of sulphur and lime concoctions, buI
the weight of testimony has in ouI
opinion been clearly against the use
of this combination which while fair.
ly effective has the draw back Of being
highly detrimental TO the wool. On the
other hand there are many who claim
with good reason that dips of the tai
product variety are positive advan.
tage to the wool in that they keep II
soft and full of vigor and when usec
after shearing stimulate a rapid anC
healthy growth. That noted authority
upon sheep Richard Gibson of Can
ada advises that sheep should b,
dipped three times a year not because
there will be three crops of ticks, bal
because increase of both wool anC
mutton will result He adds:"A ricf
man may discard the use of dip; {
poor man cannot afford to do So
This is fair view of the matter an(
we are strongly of the opin On thai
any reader of this paper who has no.
made 1t practice to dip his sheep al
least once year will find it very
profitable practice to follow in this
future. The best time to dip sheep il
just after shearing in that the dip ther
gets into closer contact with the Skin
and will therefore prove most effective
both in destroying any ticks that may
be present, curing skin trouble which
may be in the incipient stage and in
stimulating a fresh growth of healthy
long stapled wool. At this time too
all Of the young lambs should b.,
dipped for the reason that the tick!
will have largely migrated to theii
tender bodies causing untold misery
and at the same time retarding growtl
and health. 1t has further been found
that where sheep and lambs are prop.
erly dipped at the season of the yeaI
indicated that the dip will retain suf
ficient strength for some time to keel
away both CAD flies-whose larvae en-.
ter the nostrils causing the grub
which later torment the victims ant
even lead to fatal results in some in
stances, and the other common fly
which deposits eggs about the anu;
or in any sores that may exist upor
the body, later producing a crop o.
horrid maggots which prove a sourcs
of suffering and emaciation to tn,
sheep and disgust to the owner
Viewed from every standpoint we car
think of the dipping of sheep is sen
sible and hyglenic.