hat can be found. Not infrequently in the
hilly country an exciting chase is had after a wild mob that have defied
the exertions of the shepherds and their dogs for a considerable time.
These animals will run up the most inaccessible places, skirt the edges
of precipices at a height at which they can be discovered only by the
aid of a telescope, and have been known to maintain their freedom in
spite of man or dog for years. When at length caught they present a
ludicrous appearance; their fleeces have become tangled and matted,
hanging to the ground in ragged tails, and can with difficulty be
removed, their feet have grown crooked and deformed, and they rarely
again become domesticated with the flock.

The shearing is carried on in a large shed, divided into pens or small
compartments, each connected separately with the attached yards. It is
usually done by contract, the price being L1 to L1 5s. per hundred
sheep. Each man has his pen, which is cleared out and refilled as often
as necessary, and at each clearance the number therein are counted to
his name. The shorn sheep are passed direct to the branding yard, and
from thence to a common yard, from which all are counted out at
nightfall for return to the run.

A good shearer will clip one hundred sheep in a day, the average for a
gang of men being 75.

Upon the fleece being removed it is gathered up by an attendant placed
for the purpose, and handed over to the sorter, who spreads it upon a
table and removes dirty and jagged parts, and sometimes it is classed.
It is then rolled up and thrown into the wool press to be packed for
export.

The wool bales so pressed measure 9 ft. by 4 ft. by 4 ft., and contain
on an average one hundred fleeces, and each fleece runs from three to
four pounds in weight. The lambs' wool is pressed separately, and
commands a higher price than that of the adult sheep.

The hand press is a wooden box, made the size of the canvas bale, which
is suspended therein by hooks from the open top; the box has a movable
side, which is loosened out to give exit to the bale when pressed. The
pressing is done by the feet, assisted by a blunt spade, and the bales
are generally very creditably turned out, the sheep-farmer priding
himself on a neatly pressed bale. When pressed the end is sewn up and
the bale rolled over to a convenient place for branding, when it is
ready for loading on the dray.

Previous to shearing, the sheep are sometimes driven throu