CATTLE 



1233 



CATTLE 



ATTLE, kaf'l, cud-chewing animals 

 that have been used for domestic purposes 

 since at least 2,000 years before Christ. They 

 are valuable for their milk, hides and meat. 

 Formerly cattle were used to a large extent as 

 beasts of burden. 



The domesticated cattle of the world are now 

 of two species, the cattle found in Europe and 

 America and the humped cattle of India, called 

 zebus. The zebu is more extensively used as 

 a beast of burden than are the cattle of West- 

 ern countries. The cattle of Europe and 

 America have descended from three species, 

 two of which were domesticated and bred by 

 the ancient lake dwellers; the other species is 

 known to have existed in Scandinavia. The 

 lines of descent from these prehistoric species 

 to the cattle of the present are not clearly 

 marked, and the origin of most of the breeds 

 of the present time is rather obscure. 



Cattle in Europe and America have been 

 brought to a much higher state of usefulness 

 than in any other part of the world. Accord- 

 ing to differences in environment, the natural 

 divides between valleys, the artificial bounda- 

 ries between countries and between different 

 parts of the same country in its division into 

 counties and townships, cattle have been 

 classed into breeds, but the breed distinctions 

 are not great enough to call for a fine zoolog- 

 ical classification. 



The Familiar Breeds. The common breeds 

 are the Holstein-Friesian, Guernsey, Jersey, 

 Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Dutch Belted, Kerry, 

 Dexter, French Canadian, Shorthorn, Hereford, 

 Aberdeen-Angus, Galloway, Red Polled and 

 Devon. Below will be shown the classification 

 of these fifteen breeds into types according to 

 the greatest usefulness. The breeds are dis- 

 tinguished one from another mainly through 

 color differences, horned characteristics and 

 differences in type. The horned characteristics 

 may be discussed here, and the type and col- 

 ors left until the individual breeds are de- 

 scribed. 



With the exception of the Aberdeen-Angus, 

 Galloway and Red Polled breeds, cattle are 

 78 



horned. The horns of the various breeds vary 

 all the way from the short, blunt horns about 

 twelve inches long, of the Shorthorns and 

 Herefords, that stick straight out from the 

 sides of the head, to the long, beautiful, up- 

 curving horns of the Ayrshires. At one time 

 the native cattle of Texas were characterized 

 by long horns which were so wide-spreading 

 that the name Texas longhorn came into use. 

 The horns on some of these cattle were ten 

 feet from tip to tip. These were inferior range 

 cattle which quickly gave way to better types, 

 due to the introduction of superior beef blood. 

 A few of these longhorns are still found in 

 Mexico and other parts of Southern North 

 America, and they are yet plentiful in South 

 America. 



Hornless Breeds. Breeds like the Aberdeen- 

 Angus and Galloway are said to be -polled, or, 

 having the horns removed, though occasionally 

 cows and bulls appear without horns in all 

 breeds. This has led to the development of 

 polled strains within the Jersey, Holstein- 

 Friesian, Shorthorn and Hereford breeds. 

 Herds of cattle, naturally polled, or those that 

 have been artificially dehorned, are much 

 quieter and may be herded together like sheep. 

 This practice of artificially dehorning cattle 

 has become more and more common because 

 cattle kept quiet "are easier to handle and yield 

 more milk or lay on fat more quickly. 



Dehorning Cattle. Cattle may be dehorned 

 in two ways. The most humane way and the 

 easiest way is to kill the horns on young 

 calves, and this should be done before the 

 calves are three weeks old. The hair around 

 the small buttons is clipped close. The little 

 horn button is then rubbed with a stick of 

 caustic potash which has been moistened in 

 water. The horn must be rubbed hard until 

 blood appears, so that every vestige of the 

 horn be destroyed, for if all of the young horn 

 tissue is not destroyed, small, unsightly, mis- 

 shapen nubs of horns will grow. Two precau- 

 tions must be taken; the pptash should be 

 wrapped in dry paper where it is held in the 

 fingers, so the skin may not be injured, and 



