The breeding season is, in some instances, at the commencement of summer, in others, at the commencement of winter, but in general it is in March or April, the rams having been put to the ewes in October. This deviation from our practice of spring lambing, is owing, according to Mr Cunningham, to the breeders finding that the pasture is particularly good in the autumn, from a sort of second spring taking place, while the lambs stand the cold better than the heat, and are less annoyed by the gad-flies. The sheep usually double their number every four years.
Sheep-shearing takes place at the beginning of summer. The usual plan of washing is previously had recourse to (see paragraph 99.), but of late it has become customary, with some proprietors, to wash them with a spout. This is done by bringing them one by one under a stream of water, falling from a moderate height; but it is not likely that it will ever be generally adopted, as it requires very peculiar facilities in regard to water, and is besides a plan fraught with danger to the sheep. It ought to be kept in mind, that a stream of water playing on the body, produces a very stunning effect, which may destroy life in an inconsiderable time, and has, in this way, been often employed for putting criminals to death. Be this as it may, the Australian sheep-farmers have doubtless been led to resort to the spout, owing to the fleeces being so full of filth as to be cleaned with difficulty in the common way. The finer the wool, the more abundant is the yolk or viscid secretion on the skin, and the greater, consequently, is the quantity of filth which sticks to it. The dirtiness of the wool becomes, in this way, no mean test of the value of the sheep. Some of the fleeces lose fully three-fifths of their weight by washing. The average weight of the fleeces from the improved breeds, is from two to two-and-a-half pounds. The ewe fleece seldom exceeds one pound and a half. "The wool is packed in bales, wrapped in canvass, and forwarded for exportation to Sydney, on drays drawn by oxen. Some of the more extensive sheep-farmers send home their wool direct to their agents in London, where it is sold according to its quality, at from one to three shillings, (the freight to London being only three-halfpence) a pound."[43]