Branding and Marking 105 



portant, but if it is an inch or more the heat will be re- 

 tained better. Copper is by far the best material for 

 making irons, since it holds the heat much better than iron. 

 It is expensive, however, and if the heating fa;cilities are 

 good and the branding not carried on with extreme 

 rapidity, iron instead of copper will answer very well, or 

 for rapid work several iron brands may be used. For 

 heating the iron, a large hand forge is the best, but they 

 are not always readily available. Old stoves are some- 

 times used, and quite successfully. The common method, 

 however, is the open bonfire, which does very well, but 

 is troublesome and takes a lot of good dry wood. 



The temperature of the iron has much to do with making 

 a permanent brand. Long-haired cattle require a much 

 hotter iron than short-haired cattle. In all cases the iron 

 must be hot enough to make a good blister everywhere 

 it touches, which usually means a good red. There is 

 very little danger of having the iron too hot, but much 

 danger of not having it hot enough. The injury to the 

 animal may be greater with the moderately hot iron, since 

 it is often held to the skin for some time, and although the 

 skin may not be much affected, the heat has time to pene- 

 trate to the tenderer tissues beneath and do more damage 

 and cause the animal more suffering than if the skin were 

 burned to a crisp by the almost instantaneous application 

 of white-hot iron. This same principle is well illustrated 

 in horse-shoeing. Veterinarians know that serious injury 

 to a horse's foot seldom comes from the application of a 

 red-hot shoe, for the scorching warns the shoer to take it 

 away, but the serious injury comes when the shoe is not 

 quite hot enough to scorch, and is therefore left in con- 

 tact with the foot long enough for the heat to penetrate 

 into the tenderer tissues below, thus producing serious 



