32 FARMERS BULLETIN 920. 



cool and when flies are not troublesome. As soon as the horns are 

 removed it is well to apply a little pine tar to the wounds. 



The horns on kids can be prevented from developing by using either 

 caustic soda or caustic potash, which may be obtained from the drug 

 store in the form of sticks about the thickness of a lead pencil. These 

 caustics should be used with care, as they may injure the skin of the 

 person handling them. The stick caustic should be wrapped in a 

 piece of paper to protect the fingers, leaving one end uncovered. 

 Moisten the uncovered end and rub it on the horn buttons. Care 

 should be taken to apply the caustic to the horn button only, but it 

 should be blistered well. The application should be made w^hen the 

 kids are from 2 to 5 days old. 



FIG. 18. Type of goat fence used at the Bureau of Animal Industry's experiment farm, Beltsville, Md.; 

 42 inches high. (This fence appears also in the background of fig. 12.) 



The best fence for inclosing goats is of woven wire, ranging in 

 height from 42 to 48 inches. Care should be taken, however, to 

 have the ends of the braces against the end posts low enough so that 

 the goats can not walk up them and jump over. 



If goats are more or less confined and not allowed to run upon 

 gravelly or rocky soil their hoofs grow out and should be trimmed. 

 This can be done with either a sharp knife or a pair of small pruning 

 shears. 



GOAT MEAT AND GOATSKINS. 



There has always been a rather general prejudice in this country 

 against the use of goat meat as food. However, in some sections a 

 great many goats of the milk type, especially kids, are annually con- 



