SHELTER FOR THE DIPPING PLANT.

The vat, boilers, and dripping pens should be under cover, and it will be well to extend the cover over the drive and the forcing pens.

ARRANGEMENTS FOR CLEANING.

Cleaning the plant may be facilitated if the following suggestions are observed: It is well to have one end of the vat slightly lower than the other end, so that the ooze will run toward that point when the tub is being emptied. If the entire floor of the collecting pens is made of brick, cement, or boards, and inclines slightly toward one or two points, the yards may be more easily cleaned by means of a hose and

FIG. 34.- Ground plan of yards and vat. (Copied from Powers' The American Merino, 1887, p. 304.) stream of water. If this plan is adopted there should be an upright baseboard or a solid wall of concrete or brick a few inches in height running around the edge of the entire pen. If there is direct sewer connection for the vat a trap or manhole should be made to catch the droppings and the tags of wool, otherwise the sewer pipe will become obstructed.

BOILING, INFUSING, AND SETTLING TANKS.

The arrangement of the boiling tanks depends upon two factors in particular: First, upon the kind of dip used; second, upon the arrangement adopted for keeping the bath at the proper temperature.

In case a steam pipe is placed near the floor of the dipping vat in order to keep the ooze at its proper temperature while dipping, the vat itself may be used for heating water. Clear water is run into the vat and the steam turned on full force until the proper temperature is obtained. If a carbolic or a prepared tobacco dip is used, the material may then be mixed in the vat if desired. Even in this case, however, it is best to provide a separate boiling tank for heating and preparing fresh ooze to replace the dip as it is used up.

These boiling tubs may be made of wood or iron, according to the facilities at hand. If steam is to be had, the square or round wooden boiling tub may be used, and an open steam pipe run into it to heat the water.

If the steam pipe can not be used, either in the vat or in

the boiling tanks, iron tanks should be provided. The iron tanks are set in brick or stone frames, with a fireplace below. It is best to have two tanks, each with a capacity of about 400 gallons.

If a homemade tobacco dip is prepared from the leaves there should also be provided two iron infusing caldrons, each with a cover and with a capacity of 80 to 120 gallons. The infusion is prepared in these smaller tanks, while the bulk of the water is heated in the boiling tanks or in the swim itself.

If a lime-and-sulphur dip is used it is absolutely necessary to provide some means for settling the mixture, in order that the bath may be free from sediment. This may be done in two ways. The better way is to have separate settling tubs provided with bungholes or pipes three or four inches from the bottom. After the mixture is thoroughly boiled it is pumped into the settling tubs and allowed to remain there until it is perfectly free from sediment; the clear liquid is then run into the dipping vat and diluted with warm water to the proper strength. Or the boiling tanks may also be used as settling vats. A pipe with elbow joint is run into the boiling tank three or four inches above the bottom; the opening of the pipe should point sidewise, not up. After boiling the proper length of time the fire is removed and the liquid allowed to stand until clear; only the clear ooze is drawn off, the sediment remaining on the floor of the boiling tank.

MEASURES.

The capacity of the vat should be marked at different depths. The capacity of the boilers should also be marked in the same way. If these are marked for every 100, 200, 300, or 500 gallons (according to the amount of dipping to be done), separate measuring tanks will be unnecessary. In case the tanks are not marked a separate measuring tank should be provided.

If a homemade tobacco dip or a lime-and-sulphur dip is used a set of scales is necessary. To guess at weights in mixing lime and sulphur may result in too strong a dip.

PUMPS.

A portable pump will be found of great use in filling and emptying tanks.

FIG. 36.-View of the dipping plant at the Union Stock Yards, Chicago, Ill. (This dipping plant, including vat, boiler, etc., cost about $2,500.)

FEDERAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS RELATIVE TO

SHEEP SCAB.

As the scab of the sheep is unquestionably a contagious disease, it is unlawful to ship sheep so affected from any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia into any other State, Territory, or the District of Columbia. The penalties for such shipment of diseased sheep are heavy, as will be seen from an examination of sections 6 and 7 of the act approved May 29, 1884, which are as follows:

SEC. 6. That no railroad company within the United States, or the owners or masters of any steam or sailing or other vessel or boat, shall receive for transportation or transport, from one State or Territory to another, or from any State into the District of Columbia, or from the District into any State, any live stock affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and especially the disease known as pleuro-pneumonia; nor shall any person, company, or corporation deliver for such transportation to any railroad company, or master or owner of any boat or vessel, any live stock, knowing them to be affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease; nor shall any person, company, or corporation drive on foot or transport in private conveyance from one State or Territory to another, or from any State into the District of Columbia, or from the District into any State, any live stock, knowing them to be affected with any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, and especially the disease known as pleuro-pneumonia: Provided, That the so-called splenetic or Texas fever shall not be considered a contagious, infectious, or communicable disease within the meaning of sections four, five, six, and seven of this act, as to cattle being transported by rail to market for slaughter, when the same are unloaded only to be fed and watered in lots on the way thereto.

SEC. 7. That it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Agriculture to notify, in writing, the proper officials or agents of any railroad, steamboat, or other transportation company doing business in or through any infected locality, and by publication in such newspapers as he may select, of the existence of said contagion; and any person or persons operating any such railroad, or master or owner of any boat or vessel, or owner or custodian of or person having control over such cattle or other live stock within such infected district, who shall knowingly violate the provisions of section six of this act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

The provisions of this statute are very specific and clear, and there can be no possible doubt of their application to the disease under consideration. Congress has, nevertheless, gone still further by way of emphasizing this application, and has particularly directed the attention of the Department of Agriculture to a few important diseases, including sheep scab, by the following clause, which has been repeated in the appropriation act for a number of years:

and the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to use any part of this sum he may deem necessary or expedient, and in such manner as he may think 58