Armed with electric clippers, an ex -perienced sheep shearer can completely strip the wool from a sheep in three min utes. In Australia, where his specialty is a legendary profession as well as a sheer necessity, a champion shearer soon becomes something of a national hero.
And in the U.S., where he can earn a princely $12 per hour denuding sheep, the shearer contributes to the high cost of woolen garments. But the shearer's days of glory may well be numbered.
As a result of research by Department of Agriculture scientists, an unskilled la borer can now equal the speed of...