98 Western Live-stock Management 



ent bunches. The corrals should be separated by suitable 

 gateways, and the branding chute should also open from 

 one to the other. If the twomain corrals can be separated 

 by one or more small pens, it will be a great convenience, 

 since a few animals can be run into the small pen and there 

 separated or run into the branding chute much easier 

 than directly from a large corral containing a hundred or 

 more cattle. When it is necessary to do much roping 

 either for branding, castrating, or other purposes, a small 

 branding corral with a snubbing post in the center will be 

 necessary. The snubbing post must be heavy, set well 

 into the ground, and thoroughly tamped. The height 

 will vary according to the fancy of the user, but three to 

 four feet is usually about right. The branding corral 

 itself must be circular, without sharp corners or other 

 projections. With any other shape the animals will 

 crowd into the corners and may injure each other or break 

 the fence, while in the round corral they keep going round 

 in a circle and find no corners to stop them. For roping 

 this is especially important, since if the corral is of the 

 proper size, the roper may stand in the center while the 

 animals chase around the outside, giving him a fair chance 

 to throw. With the rectangular corrals the cattle jam 

 into the corners so that it is almost impossible to get at 

 them with the rope. The diameter will depend to some 

 extent on the number of animals to be held, but for good 

 work, forty to sixty feet will be found to be the best. The 

 roper should be able to stand in the center near the snub- 

 bing post and catch the animal desired as the bunch pass 

 around the corral. If the corral is smaller than the limits 

 given, there will not be room enough for good work ; and 

 if larger, the roper cannot reach all parts of the corral from 

 the snubbing post. For general use the fifty-foot size 



