1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



291 



enclosed for all time ; the materials, although the 

 walls may fall, or he thrown down, never decay. 

 Next to walls, we may mention stump fence as the 

 most valuable species of field enclosure. Propcrlj' 

 constructed, on land that docs not "lieave," they 

 endure for generations, and ordinarily subject the 

 farmer to but little expense* for repairs. Hedges 

 of thorn ai'c also valuable, and produce a most 

 beautiful effect upon a landscape. They arc also 

 very durable and efficient. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



CUTTING OFF CATTLE's TAILS. 



Mr. Editor : — I wish to inquire through your 

 paper whether it is necessary to cut off the end 

 of neat cattle's tails every spring? Will you 

 please to explain what the effect is upon them ? I 

 am young and inexperienced in sueh matters. 



Kecne, N. II. J. w. N. 



No — the practice of cutting off the tails of 

 neat cattle is not necessary ; it is a barbarous rel- 

 ic of which this ago ought to be ashamed. It is a 

 CTuel mutilation, causes a wasteful loss of blood 

 which is again to bo supplied by your grass, hay and 

 grain, and deprives the animals of the means which 

 nature provided to protect themselves from the in- 

 sects wl'.ich annoy them. Why did He who 

 formed them furnish along tail, so admirably pro- 

 vided with a brush at its end, but ft)r some good 

 purpose ! The advocates of this shameful prac- 

 tice may say that blood-letting is necessary — that 

 the end of the tail becomes soft, and that unless 

 it is cut off the animal will sicken and die. But 

 such reasoning is nonsensical, and the effects of 

 an old superstition ; you might as well cut a man's 

 leg off because the end of his great toe is soft by 

 the irritation of his boot. 



There is a mania among the hired men to cut 

 off the cows' tails, and their arguments are won- 

 derfully strengthened by the recollection, that if 

 the tail is only a foot or two long, it will not be 

 very likely to come into their faces while milking. 

 The superstition has had its popularity altogether 

 too long. 



There is a sickness not uncommon among cat- 

 tle soon after they are turned to grass, which is 

 proljably occasioned by a sudden change from 

 dry to succulent food, and at the same time from 

 a dry and warm temperature to cold winds, 

 storms, and exposure to the night air. The hind 

 limbs are affected, sometimes the joints swell, and 

 there is a tremljling and a giving way, so that the 

 animal can scarcely drag itself along. In Eng- 

 land, it was supposed that the origin of this diffi- 

 culty was in the tail, and was called tail-i/l or iail- 

 slip, and has come to us under the expressive 

 term, tail-sick! Mr. Dick, of Edinburgh, has 

 taken up this sulyect in a very interesting point 

 of view, in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture. 

 He says — 



"The farmer and thecowloech believe that the mis- 

 chief passes along the cow's tail to the back, and 



that it is on account of something wrong in the 

 tail that she loses the use of her legs ; and tlien 

 some set to work and cut the cow's tail off; while 

 others, less cruel, or more scientific, make an in- 

 cision into the under surface, and allow the wound 

 to bleed freely, and then fill it up with a mixture 

 of tar and.salt, and we know not what. 



"In some parts of tlie country, the practitioner 

 is not content with this treatment, but supposing 

 there is witchcraft in the Ijusincss, he has recourse 

 to some charm in addition to the cutting and 

 dressing. This charm consists in 1)iuding a small 

 piece of the rovran tree on the extremity of the 

 tail, and making a black cat pass three times 

 round the cow's body, over her back, and under 

 her belly, (which, if it happens to be a strange 

 cat, as is often the case from the necessity of tiie 

 color, being black) so enrages the animal, that she 

 mews and scratches with all the fury to which she 

 is so easily excited, until she escapes from the 

 hands of the necromancers, leaving them con- 

 vinced that the devil has got into the cat. 



"The disease, in ordinary cases, is said to con- 

 sist in a softening of the bones about the extremi- 

 ty of the tail, and is to be distinguished by the 

 point of the tail being easily doubled back- upon 

 itself, and having at this doubling a soft and 

 rather a crepitating kind of feel. But what is 

 the real state of the case 1 The tail is length- 

 ened out to the extent of about three feet, and is 

 formed like a common whip. Towards the extrem- 

 ity, the bones terminate gradually, becoming in- 

 sensibly smaller as they proceed downwards. At 

 tliis part is said to be found a soft space — the tail- 

 slip. Beyond this again, a firm swelling cartila- 

 ginous portion is found, covered with hair to 

 brush off the tiies witliin its roach. Now why 

 have we the long column of bones ; the termina- 

 tion with a soft space of a lew inches ; this thick- 

 ened, hard, cartilaginous part at the. very extrem- 

 ity, and that extremity covered with hair, but 

 with a view to form a whip to drive off, and with 

 the greatest possible effect, the insects which 

 wound and torment the animal 1 



"Here the column of bones forms the shaft or 

 handle of the whip — the soft part, the connection 

 between the handle and the thong, while the 

 thickened extremity may be easily recognized to 

 represent the tliong, and the hairs to form the 

 lash, or point ; so that we have a whip to drive 

 away the flies, and so complete a one, tliat the 

 coachman may borrow a lesson from its construc- 

 tion. 



"We trust, therefore, that our readers will 

 never be found again looking at the tail of the 

 cow for on explanation of palsy, or any other 

 complaint; (lor we believe this tail-slip is sup- 

 posed to be connected with various other mala- 

 dies ;) but wo will allow them to examine it once 

 more, in order to admire its adaptation to the pur- 

 pose for which it is requiried, and the peculiar 

 contrivance of this supposed disLiascd part, for the 

 more effectwal accomplishment of this natural 

 purpose." 



We think the above will satisfy our inquir- 

 ing friend that if the t;iil is really diseased, that 

 the origin of the difficulty is not in the tail itself, 

 but suffers with the other parts of the system. 

 It is not improbaljlo that relief may 8(mietime8 be 

 afforded by this cropping, but there arc remedies 



