It is customary for sheep to be shorn every year; and in warm countries where they apprehend no danger from leaving the animal quite bare, they do not shear the wool, but tear it off, and those frequently find a sufficiency to have two crops in a year. In France, and in colder climates, the fleece is shorn only once a year, and then a part of the wool is permitted to remain by way of preserving the animal from the intemperance of the weather. This operation is performed in the month of May, after the sheep have been well washed to render the wool as clean as possible. The month of April is too cold, and if delayed to July, there would not be sufficient time for the wool to grow to preserve them from the cold of the following winter. The wool of the wedder is generally better, and in greater abundance than that of the ewe or ram; that on the neck and top of the back, is much superior to that on the thighs, belly, tail, &c. and that taken from the bodies of the dead, or diseased animals, is by much the worst. White wool is preferable to grey, brown, or black, because in dying it will take any colour, and that which is smooth and sleek is better than the curled; it is even said, that sheep whose wool is curled are not so good as the others. Folding sheep is of great advantage to the land, and when it is wished to improve any by this means, the ground must be inclosed, and the flock shut in every night during the summer; the dung, urine, and heat of the animals, will soon enrich the most exhausted, cold, and infertile grounds. An hundred sheep in one summer will fertilize eight acres of land for six years.