DliUORNING, SPAYING, 'AND CASTRATING CATTLi: 387 



horns may be of some service when used in defense 

 against predatory animals. When, however, cattle are 

 kept on the semi-range plan, the arguments that bear 

 upon dehorning on the arable farm will also apply, and 

 almost with equal force. 



Facts which bear upon dehorning. — The best age for 

 dehorning has not yet been determined to the satisfac- 

 tion of all, and possibly never will be. Some cattlemen 

 prevent the horns from growing by applying some caus- 

 tic substance over the part where the horn would first 

 appear, and before it has penetrated the skin. Others 

 prefer allowing the horns to grow until the young 

 animals have come to know their use and yet are not 

 able to use them to the serious detriment of other 

 animals. This would mean that they would retain them 

 until one year old. The argument most commonly 

 urged in favor of the method first submitted is that it 

 causes less pain than removing the horns later, a conclu- 

 sion that would seem to be open to question. 



The chief objection to it is that unskilled operators 

 are more or less liable to succeed but partially in the 

 work, from doing it in a defective manner. The chief 

 argument in favor of the method next submitted is that 

 when the animals are not deprived of their horns until 

 they come to understand their use, they are more docile 

 and unoffending than animals whose horns have not 

 been allowed to grow and than animals even of the horn- 

 less breeds. Animals of both classes last referred to 

 learn to push and strike with the head in the process of 

 development, a method of attack unknown to those de- 

 horned at the age mentioned. To deferring dehorning 

 to the age mentioned, there would seem to be no serious 

 objection. 



When there is a real necessity for it, cattle may be 

 dehorned at any season of the year, but some seasons 

 are much more suitable than others in which to dehorn. 

 It may be done in cold weather in winter, providing the 



