104 Western Live-stock Management 



is not at all difficult, the only trouble being that if the rope 

 is not properly managed when it is dropped down off the 

 hips, the animal may kick out of it with one foot, if not 

 with both. The method is not very fast, and is hard on 

 the animals, causing much excitement in catching, and 

 also "wooling" them around more than is desirable. It 

 is, however, convenient for the farmer who has only a few 

 to brand and is about the only method for castration. 



The modern method of branding, however, is with a 

 "mash" or chute with movable sides. This method of 

 branding is faster, and easier on the animals than the 

 roping process, although this depends largely on the con- 

 veniences that have been arranged for getting the cattle 

 into the chutes. If the corral is large and only a short 

 wing of twenty-five or thirty feet is used, there will be 

 much difficulty in persuading the meaner cattle into the 

 trap ; but if a larger wing is used, and especially if it is 

 divided with one or more stop gates, the cattle can be 

 put in as fast as the iron can be applied. 



The essential point in regard to branding irons is that 

 the design be simple and the iron large. Small compli- 

 cated designs are easily blurred out, and even if they are 

 put on correctly, long hair soon covers them over so 

 they cannot be read. A good brand must above all 

 things be legible. A brand that cannot be read until the 

 animal is sheared is an abomination. If the iron be large 

 and simple and properly applied, the brand should be 

 legible all the year round. The actual size will depend 

 on various things, but in general each letter, if letters 

 are used, should be seven or eight inches high and M's 

 and W's even larger. The stock of which the brand is 

 made should also be large, three-eighths to one-half inch 

 across the face. The depth of the stock is not so im- 



