AMONG THE FLOCKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20723, 17 November 1930, Page 15

AMONG THE FLOCKS.

SEASONAL OPERATIONS. POINTS FOR ATTENTION. SMEARING THE DRY SHEEP.

BX H.B.T.

In spito of the fact that tho season has not been an early or favourablo 0110 in most North Island districts, sheepfarmers aro generally preparing for tho dry-shocp shearing which will bo undertaken at any tinio now. Thero aro several advantages in getting tho wool off theso shoop as early in tho season as the weather allows, tho chief boing that tbo stock fatten much more readily when put out of tho wool, provided no very sovoro change in tho weather is experienced. Also, on tho bigger farms and stations tho work incidental to shearing is much more conveniently arranged if the operation can bo spread over two periods than where shearing of ewes, and possibly lambs, follows directly after tho mustering, shearing and other handling which has to bo given to hoggets and wethers.' It is quite possible, bowevcr, to shear even tho dry sheep 100 early. Tho time of shearing should bo regulated principally by tho weather, for if this is not sufficiently warm for at least a fortnight before shearing, tho wool will not bo in attractive condition. It requires both warm weather and a flush of green feed to bring tho yolk up in tho wool, and the sheep-farmer should not arbtitrarily fix a dato when tho dry sheep must bo shorn. Shearing ol Hoggets. It is usual to shear tho hoggets first, as these are carrying more wool, unless shorn as lambs, than are older wethers, and they aro thereforo more liable to givo trouble by getting " cast" if allowed to go longer in tho wool. Besides this, as these young sheep are still growing, and it is intended to fatten-off or disposo of the wethers among them as soon as possible, they rcquiro every advantage to cnablo them to bo got into condition for sale or freezing works as early as possible. Hoggets, in spite of every attention during tho winter in tho way ol' crutching, will accumulate dags, nnd for tho sake both of the condition of tho wool and the convenience of the shearers, dagging should always be undertakeu beforo theso sheep are allowed to go over tho shearing boards. First of all the hoggets should bo run through the drafting race, where one man, standing in the forcing pen near its entrance, advises the man on the drafting gate which sheep require dagging, these being run into a pen by themselves. This is a better method than picking the sheep out of tho whole mob by hand, as this inevitably results in knocking the clean sheep about unncessarily. Drafting for Wool.

While the daggy sheep aro being cleaned up, tho balance can again be run through the race and roughly classed by eyo into two lots comprising fino and coarse woolled respectively. The small amount of work which this drafting entails is saved many times over in tho speed with which classing can bo done, and more particularly in the advantage to the woolpressers. Where one clas3 of wool is coming through, tho bins where that class is placed naturally fill up moro rapidly and the pressors can get on with their work Bteadily without having to wait while two or more bins representing different types of wool fill up slowly, giving a rush of work at one timo to keep the bins clear.

Dagging is practically always done with the blade shears, which should bo kept thoroughly sharp for the job. Blunt shears result in many unnecessary skin cuts to the sheep besides making an unpleasant and laborious job more objectionable. Most of the cutting is done with the points of the shears which consequently need continuous attention with a quickcutting stone. The art of flagging without snipping the skin of the sheep consists in keeping the skin of the part where the clipping is being done drawn tightly back with the left hand. If this is not done the weight of „tho dags pulls the skin up at the point where they are attached by the wool to the skin, and the latter is almost sure to get between the points of the blades. Saving Wool from Dags.

There is not sufficient wool value in dags at present to warrant any considerable expenditure of labour in recovering the wool from them, nevertheless a considerable amount may be cheaply recovered if the dags are thrown in the forcing pen at the approach to the drafting race. Here they will be trodden and crushed by every sheep which passes through the race, and at the end of shearing most of the wool can be easily recovered with an ordinary rake from the dust of the yard. With hoggets, which, of course, are called two-tooths directly they come off the shears, it is usual to brand the ewes distinctively from the wethers,_ as this enables easy and accurate drafting when it is desired to separate them for fattening or other purposes. The great art in handling sheep at shearing time is to have the sheep back on their country as soon as possible and with as little knocking about as possible. Leaving sheep in tho yards overnight or allowing them to hang about the home paddocks after they are shorn should bo avoided at all costs. Any sheep shorn during tho day should be back on their block by nightfall. In working sheep into and through tho shearing shed use as little \ noise as P°®" siblo. Sheep quickly become inured to noiso and dagging and will thereafter be as obstinate as mules. Tho man who goes about shed-filfing quickly will do his work in half tho timo find with half the damage to the sheep that tho same job will take a noisy, bustling man with a pack of yelping dogs. If anything is required to tighten up the sheep in a pen use a strip or square of old sheepskin on tho end of a bamboo polo. Do not use a sack, as the fibres from tins becom© intermingled with tho wool, reducing its valuo. .