8 



rope carried around the stanchion rail to the front and to the hands 

 of the assistant. Care should be taken that the rope pass each time 

 over the neck of the animal to the stanchion rail between the horns 

 in such a way that it will not interfere with the work of the saw. 



WHERE TO CUT THE HORNS. 



The horns should be severed from a quarter to a half inch below 

 where the skin joins the base of the horn, cutting from the back toward 

 the front. 



If the cut is made too high an irregular, gnarly growth of horn is 

 very apt to follow. It will be seen that the point of union of the skin 



FIG. 1. Method of tyin^ cow to stanchion rail. 



and horn varies in different cattle; hence there can be no rule of meas- 

 urement, except as the eye becomes trained to see the point or line at 

 which the cut should be made. In the beef breeds fully one-half inch 

 of skin, all around, is usually taken off with the horn. 



Figured illustrates the difference between a proper and an improper 

 cutting, and figures 3 and 4- show the appearance of animals 1 heads after 

 proper and improper dehorning. 



INSTRUMENTS FOR DEHORNING. 



In recent years, since dehorning shears or clippers have come into 

 use, this means of dehorning is considered by some cattle owners to 

 be preferable, especially where large numbers of cattle are to be 

 dehorned. One type of dehorner has a stationary knife blade, with 



3")0 



