306 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



Instances have been cited to prove that the effects of the deprivation 

 of his horns are only temporary in the case of the animal that has once 

 become dangerous or unruly, but a lengthened and varied experience 

 convinces rne that such is not the general fact. The moral effect of 

 throwing the animal and depriving it of its natural weapons is both 

 great and lasting, and" with proper treatment the advantages thus 

 obtained need neither be lost nor lessened. The animal, shorn of its 

 weapons, dreads the very approach of man, and its impulse is to go 

 from him instead of for him. Animals are of more retentive memory 

 than they are generally credited with. May we venture on a case in 

 point : 



In Iowa a certain hog went daily to the railroad depot to gratify his 

 appetite with the grains of corn dropped from the trains in passing. 

 One day, when familiarity had assuaged his fear of cars and engines, 

 his fastidious taste induced him to endeavor to secure an tin usually 

 tempting morsel that lay between the rails underneath a train then 

 standing at the station. At this moment the train happened to start, 

 taking with it the porker's tail, which had become ^imprisoned between 

 the wheel and the shoe of the brake, leaving the unfortunate epicure to 

 go through the rest of his career without a steering apparatus. One 

 would have supposed the warning would have proved deterrent, but 

 those who took an interest in the venturesome porcine observed that 

 while he adhered to his daily foraging expeditions on the track, when- 

 ever he heard the rattle of the cars or the whistle of the locomotive he 

 gravely backed up against an adjacent water-tank to insure the safety 

 of his already diminished ornament. The animal had had sufficient 

 railroading experience to be able to appreciate to the full extent the 

 awful seriousness of the loss of terminal facilities. He did not want 

 any more tail taken off; and it is exactly so with the bull deprived of 

 his horns. Let him keep them until he has learned to depend on them, 

 then take them off, and if rationally treated he will ever after be quiet 

 and tractable. 



Theoperation is in itself simple, and can under ordinary circumstances 

 be performed by the owner. The precaution of the greatest importance 

 is to see that the animal is secured so that it can not struggle enough 

 to hurt itself. The animal may be thrown by any of the methods already 

 indicated. The only additional accessories for the above purpose is a 

 strong halter and a long rope, fastened ammd its girth before it is cast. 

 The free end of this is then passed through, the ring on the halter and 

 the Jiead pulled back against the ribs. A hitch underneath the tail 

 should bring the rope forward to the halter, where it may be fastened 

 so as to be readily loosed when the first horn has been removed. To 

 remove the second horn loose the head, turn the animal over, and 

 refasten the head as before. 



The exponents of dehorning have attempted to envelop the operation 

 in a mist of a technical absurdities, and insist on the necessity of an 



