PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 767, 12 November 1886, Page 14

PASTORAL AND AGRICULTURAL.

Letters and articles upon agricultural and pastoral pursuits, from our country friends, will be heartily welcomed , and inserted in this paae the of Mail.

ine and all dirty -wool removed from the breech. The wool grower is thought by some to be a loser by scouring his wool, as the loss of weight in some cases amounts to 40 per cent, while the extra price obtained over m-easv wool is seldom enough to make up for this loss. In shearing, the work should be done carefully as well as quickly. Bookless cutting or knocking about of the.sheep should be rigorously guarded against. Some shearers, if allowed, will rush through iheir work careless of the damage they may do fo both sheep and fleece. Double cutting is a very common fault unles? severely checked, and reduces the value of the wool by making a short and a long staple in the same floece. A. buyer who wants a combing wool and not a clothing wool will therefore not give as much for such wool as if it was of a uniform staple. Iu shearing cross bred sheep, which show coarse and hairy wool on the breech, remove this part of the fleece and pack it with the pieces and skirtings. The sheep should be immediately branded after shearing. Raddle or lamp-black and boiled linseed on is the thing usually used far this purpose. A more permanent brand is pitch boiled with grease. Do not make use of an unnecessarily large brand, which spoils more wool than is at all needful, and in a large flock causes a considerable loss. After shearing the sheep can be readily culled, for the best framed sheep can then be easily selected. For cows, horses, and pigs, Bee November operations for Northern Districts. Grass. —All sowings of grass seed should be completed without delay. Weeds must be kept down and above all things suffer none to seed. _ Glean young hedges, and all young plantations of trees from weeds.