Engineering Commons^™

Teasing Apart The Threads Of Staple Strength, Andrew Peterson

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

A successful partnership between two local inventors and Agriculture WA's Wool Program has created a new instrument which, just like the growth rings of trees, can show seasonal changes in the fibre diameter of wool. This will have considerable value to the wool industry as Andrew Peterson explains.

Crutching Cradles Can Work Well, N M. Marney, R. A. Mills

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Crutching cradles allow successful do-it-yourself crutching if a continuous flow of sheep can be maintained. This article describes some units available and discusses costs.

Low Cost Fencing, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Fences with more wire and posts are not necessarily stronger.

Design using high tensile wire can save on materials and reduce costs.

Designing Yards For Sheep, Department Of Agriculture, Western Australia

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

This article has been adapted from a report of the 1976 Sheep and Wool Refresher Course.

The officers attending the Course inspected W. A. farms, and then met in groups to discuss what they had seen, and to pool their experience in compiling a report. This article has been adapted from the report of the group working on the topic "Sheep yards and facilities".

The W. A. representative in the group working on sheep yard design was Mr John Wise of the Department's Katanning office.

The principals discussed here should help farmers either design new sheep yards, or improve the …

Sharpening And Care Of Mulesing Shears, A L. Jones

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THIS year will probably see more sheep mulesed in Western Australia than ever before.

It is not surprising, therefore, that some improvements have been made to the standard mulesing shears.

New modified shears make mulesing easier —but they must be properly sharpened.

A Simplified Mulesing Crush, G T. Halpin

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

DURING the last two years Mr. Tom Flanigan, a mulesing contractor in a large area centred at Katanning, has performed the mules-tailstrip operation on many thousands of lambs and sheep.

Help Those Lambs To Live, C J. Spencer

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

IN almost all breeding flocks the most serious stage of sheep loss is from birth to three days of age with the majority of these losses occurring at birth or during the first day.

The number of lambs lost at this time is rarely known, but survey work shows that on most properties ten to twenty of every hundred lambs born are dead before three days of age.

The economic importance of such losses cannot be emphasised too much. Money has been expended for rams as sires, while the ewes have received extra feed and have had their wool production …