80 DAIRY FARMING 



milk will be sufficiently reduced to warrant milking only 

 every other day. A very short time after this, as a 

 rule, it will be found safe to stop milking entirely. 



In case of very persistent milkers, it is better to milk 

 them close up to, if not up to, calving, rather than 

 force the "drying off" process too much. 



Dehorning. The advantage of dehorning is now pretty 

 generally recognized. The. absence of horns makes cows 

 more quiet and docile, and saves them many tortures 

 that are ordinarily inflicted when the horns are retained. 



The horns may be removed either by sawing them 

 off or by cutting them off with an instrument known as 

 a clipper. The simplest and most humane method of 

 removing horns, however, is the use of caustic potash 

 soon after the calf is born. The Author has dehorned 

 a great many calves by this method which is briefly 

 described as follows : 



When the calf is 24 to 36 hours old, clip the hair 

 from the invisible horns or buttons and rub them with a 

 stick of caustic potash. The potash should be kept in an 

 air-tight bottle until ready for use. As soon as removed 

 from the bottle, the upper part of the stick should be 

 wrapped with a piece of paper to prevent its burning 

 the hand. After a few minutes' exposure to the air 

 the stick becomes moist. As soon as this becomes notice- 

 able, rub the exposed end of the stick over each button 

 for a minute or two, or until the spot begins to look 

 reddish or sore. If the calf is examined twelve hours 

 later, a scab will be found where the potash was applied, 

 showing that the potash has gradually eaten its way 

 into the button and thus destroyed it. Care should be 

 exercised not to allow the potash to touch any part but 



