262 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Aprin, 1898. 
Dairying. | 
ON DEHORNING CATILE. 
By P. R. GORDON. 
I is now too late in the day to write in defence of the practice of dehorning 
cattle. In their wild state, when health and vigour were solely dependent on 
the survival of the fittest, horns were, no doubt, indispensable; but in 
domesticity, physiologists have failed to advance an argument in favour of the 
retention of the horns. In these days, when the trucking of cattle to market 
has become general, it goes without saying that much injury is done by horns, 
and the same applies, although in a less degree, to stockyards. But it is not 
only in trucking and yarding that the benefits of dehorning are apparent. The 
loss of the horns has been found to have a potent influence in the quietening 
of wild cattle. It is well known to practical cattle-men that in many herds 
there are a certain number of wild untractable cattle, which select, as their 
- pasture grounds, mountainous or scrubby country, and become leaders of mobs 
which give much trouble to stockriders at mustering time. A well-known and 
generally adopted method of quietening such cattle is to saw a portion or the 
whole of their horns off, which has the effect of completely altering their 
disposition from aggressiveness to that of timidity, with the result that they. 
leave their “ flash mobs” and attach themselves to quieter companions. In_ 
this way, they fatten much more quickly and kindly than when in their wild 
state. AL 
The question has been frequently mooted whether the practice of 
dehorning, if generally adopted, would ultimately result in a hornless breed of 
cattle. Judging from the many known instances of the power of heredity in 
perpetuating mutilations, and on the hypothesis so clearly laid down by 
Darwin, there seem to be strong reasons for adopting the belief that a polled 
breed of: cattle would ultimately result from the practice; but to attain that 
end, it would be necessary that all bulls, as well as cows, in use in the herds 
should be dehorned. ~ ; 
Some two years ago I made arrangements, through the late- firm of 
Messrs. Foster and Kelk, for the importation of a few of the latest improved 
dehorning implements from America. ‘These were readily bought up here, 
but, unfortunately, I have not had reports of results of their use, and do not 
know if they have been extensively used. When the dehorning machine is 
used, it should only be so on full-grown cattle, as immature horns when lopped 
off are apt to grow again. In dehorning adult cattle, the horn should be cut 
off close to the skin of the head, But the most satisfactory and least painful 
process of dehorning is by the use of caustic soda on very young calves, the 
younger the better. Mr. J. L. Thompson, the late principal of the Hawkesbury 
Agricultural College, practised this mode of destroying the growth of horns, 
and reported if as most successful. If the young horn has not made its 
appearance above the skin, it should be felt for by the fingers. The surrounding 
surface should be saturated with a little oil or grease to prevent injury from 
the caustic soda. With a small portion of a sponge or a piece of rag firmly 
tied ou the end of a small stick, the “button”? should be rubbed with the 
caustic soda, which will effectually stop further growth, and the animal grows 
up apoley, a curled lock of hair taking the place of the horn. Complaints. 
have been made as to the failure of this process where tried in this colony, but 
the failure must have been due to the caustic soda having been exposed to. 
the air. 
