ARID AGRICULTURE. 



365 



BREEDING 

 OFF THE 

 HORNS 



stocks fixed so that they can be properly secured 

 for the operation. In using the shears it is 

 necessary to cut the horn off very close to the 

 head. 



A third method is to use a sharp saw. This 

 is to be recommended for old animals after the 

 horn has become hollow and brittle. 



Dehorning by the use of chemicals, such as 

 caustic potash, etc., is so unsatisfactory in many 

 cases that it is not to be recommended. 



The most modern cattle are those which are 

 polled or naturally hornless. Rangemen have 

 long thought that cattle with horns were more 

 hardy or presented some other advantage where 

 they must survive on the open range. The day 

 of the open range is past, except as it is used in 

 connection with the home ranch. There has 

 been such a great improvement in breeds of cat- 

 tle the past few years that there are hornless 

 strains of the most important ones. Polled 

 Angus and Galloways, and the Red Polled cattle 

 and Polled Short Horns have been carefully bred 

 and improved, and we now have a polled Here- 

 ford, which promises to take the place of the old 

 horned tribes. 



DETAILING The tail of a sheep seems to serve no useful 



purpose. There are so many reasons why it 

 should be removed and so few reasons why it- 

 should not, that it has become the general prac- 



