THE COST OF DIPPING SHEEP.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 7601, 21 February 1896, Page 4

THE COST OF DIPPING SHEEP.

It cannot be wade too clear that mere market quotations for sheop dips do not give you the actual prices you pay for them. 'She object in dipping cheep is not only to rid them oi' their pests, but to preserve them from re-infection for as long a period after dipping as possible, lou will thus see how absurd it is to reckon tha cost of a dip, as many still do, at simply so much per head. The oost of a dip must be estimated at not only bo much per head, but also so much per month—tho period of its operation, if it operates at all, being a main item in its cost. To give an example—A particular dip, costing 50s or 55s par ] 000 sheep, will cleanse she6p and keep them clean for one or even two months after dipping. Another preparation, costing 60s to 65s per 1000, may keep sheep clean, practically, until the next shearing. Xfow, if thora ara any beneficial veeults from dipping at all, the lower-priced of these two dips may be nevertheless two, three, or even four times dearer than the other. There is yet another consideration affecting ths matter of price. Wool is notoriously one of the most eensative products in existence. Not only does its quality and value deteriorate eaoh day the cheep remain infested, but, if, in relieving thorn of their pests, preparations are used whioh are detrimental not merely to the newly-started fleece, but especially to the skin, whioh as it were, forms the soil of the next clip, the user thus Buffers a serious lons without even suspecting it. To givo an example of this —home-made arsenical dips are, if properly mixed, excellent, even if they are not the most lastiDg of dipping preparations. These dips, however, notoriously exercise an astringent effect on the wool, and particularly on tho tender skin, resulting in checking the subsequent growth of wool, and making it light How, it is tho easiest thing in the vorld to thus affect the wool by the next shearing to the extent of fib., fib., or lib. reduced weight or more per neeoo, and so these cheapest dips to bay will really oost from 3d to 9d per sheep to use. There are many sheep-owners who are thus unconsciously '' bleeding themselves." " What the eye doea'nt see, the heart does'nt grieve for." But they are that much poorer notwithstanding. The two groat merits of Oooppr'n dip are (1) That the astringent qualities o£ the insect destroying ingredients are removed in the manufacture, and this preparation exercises instead a beneficial effect upon the skin, whioh re-acts on the wool, and thus, whilst it costs_ you a farthing per head in the daylight, it dooa not rob you of sixpence in the dark; and (2) Cooper's has the most lasting properties of any dip in existenoe. These are the chief reasons why Cooper's dip ia used more than all other manufactured dips put together ! Eeckoned by results, it pays best.—Advt.