Shearing, in this country, is always done on the threshing-floors of the barns--sometimes upon low platforms, some eighteen or twenty inches high, but more commonly on the floor itself. The place where the sheep remain should be well littered down with straw, and fresh straw thrown on occasionally, to keep the sheep clean while shearing. No chaff or other substance which will stick in the wool should be used for this purpose. The shearing should not commence until the dew, if any, has dried off from the sheep. All loose straws sticking to the wool should be picked off, and whatever dung may adhere to any of the feet brushed off. The floor or tables used should be planed or worn perfectly smooth, so that they will not hold dirt, or catch the wool. They should all be thoroughly cleaned, and, if necessary, washed, preparatory to the process. If there are any sheep in the pen dirty from purging, or other causes, they should first be caught out, to prevent them from contaminating others. The manner of shearing varies with almost every district; and it is difficult, if not impossible, to give intelligible practical instructions, which would guide an entire novice in skilfully shearing a sheep. Practice is requisite. The following directions are as plain, perhaps, as can be made: The shearer may place the sheep on that part of the floor assigned to him, resting on its rump, and himself in a posture with his right knee on a cushion, and the back of the animal resting against his left thigh. He grasps the shears about half-way from the point to the bow, resting his thumb along the blades, which gives him better command of the points. He may then commence cutting the wool at the brisket, and, proceeding downward, all upon the sides of the belly to the extremity of the ribs, the external sides of both sides to the edges of the flanks; then back to the brisket, and thence upward, shearing the wool from the breast, front, and both sides of the neck, but not yet the back of it, and also the poll, or forepart, and top of the head. Then "the jacket is opened" of the sheep, and its position, as well as that of the shearer, is changed by the animal's being turned flat upon its side, one knee of the shearer resting on the cushion, and the other gently pressing the fore-quarter of the animal, to prevent any struggling. He then resumes cutting upon the flank and rump, and thence onward to the head. Thus one side is complete. The sheep is then turned on the other side--in doing which great care is requisite to prevent the fleeces being torn--and the shearer proceeds as upon the other, which finishes. He must then take the sheep near to the door through which it is to pass out, and neatly trim the legs, leaving not a solitary lock anywhere as a lodging-place for ticks. It is absolutely necessary for him to remove from his stand to trim, otherwise the useless stuff from the legs becomes intermingled with the fleece-wool.