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 facilities 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 
