Connecticut western news., 1877-04-13
AGRICULTURAL.

HoRNS-THEIR 1NDICATIoNs.-Much may be learned from the set and form of the horns of cattle and sheep as indi- cative of character. Small, short. slouching horns on two or three year old OK give grave and contented as- pecr to the countenance. Long, slouch- ing horns, as on the loDg-horn cattle, seem to oppress the head with & con- stant weight. Horns springing outward from the sides of the head, then rising up and bending backward never fail to impress that their bearer is quick-tem- pered, ready to use them offensively, and are set so as to toss up any object with ease; such horns may be seen on the Jersey bull. Horns curving laterally and horizontally forward give finished appearance to the top of the head when viewed in front; such are generally met with in short-horn cattle. Long horns rising outward, forward, and having points outward, impart majestic air to the head of the OK. Horns rising out ward, and then approaching behind the head, give an idea of malformation. Horns springing outward and then coming straightforward in the points seem dangerous. Horns springing out ward and approaching forward with the points little elevated and separated, seen sideways, seem heavy but seen in front, ornament the head. A horn thick at the root for its length looks clumsy, and more so when blunted at the point; and both are associated with dull feed- CTS. When springing outward much, and then turning downward, they are ungraceful. A good horn, however set, is small where it emerges from the head, and tapers gradually to fine point. A white horn looks better than dark col ored, and astip of brown or black, ac- cording to the breed, gives neat finish, though most short-horns have entirely white, and, being short and curving in- ward, serve more for ornament than for defense. Cattle with spreading horns are better feeders than those with them contracted suddenly in front. E
 Horns s-indicate the age of cattle. At three years old the horn is uniformly smooth from the root to the tip. Every year after three it has a notch on it, so, counting the netches and adding three, the age of the animal is ascertained.
 DUsT foRaANIGALs IN WINTER. .-The al most indispensable necessity of an ample supply of dust for animals in Winter is understood by very few stock kIOWGE1s All eOF6S Ol 8nlm3lB QellgAt in dust bath. Chickens who have easy and Continual access to it will never be troubled with vermin, either in their houses or on their bodies. Cattle delight to stand in dusty road, scraping it up with their fore-feet and f1inging it all over their backs. The cheapest and most cure for lice on cattle is to | scatter aQnArt of perfectly dry dust along. the spine from the horns to the tail. In Winter, when they cannot get | it, many animals become covered with | vermin- The writer has a rain tight | with strips eight inches wide nailed close to the ground on three | sides, into WAich half dozen wheel barrow loads of dust are placed every fall. Here the poultry delight to wallow and roll in the sun. It is also kept and | used on all the other stock at stated in- tervals, and no vermin of any sort is ever seen on any of them. This is at | once the most certain remedy for these pests, while the stock thrives by being with what they crave, and | what In state of nature they would | surely supply themselves with, but which they cannot when restrained and tied up in yards and stables.