Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-12-27
A CHAPTER ON DEHoRN1Na.

! N1r. Geo. w. Franklin, an Iowa
breeder of cattle, thus gave his views
| on dehorning to the Kansas City LaUe
Stock Indicator. two weeks ago:
s'The surprising part OF this business
Is, that in the light of a present age.
surrounded by Improvement, education
upon every hand, that the cattle had
not been deprived of these weapons OF
barbarism years ago, and that dehorn-
ing has come to stay becomes more
plainly visible every day. The squeani-
ishness with which the humanitarians
were so plentifully endowed at the be-
ginning of this era is fast disappearing,
and their arguments grow more gauZy
each succeeding year.
I'VE are told by those over-zealous
and wise admirers of nOn-cruelty to
dumb animals that the cattle should
be left just as the Lord provided, and
that it is wicked and extremely in
human to improve upon the Lords
created animals. We are also told by
! another class that the way to deprive
to breed them off by infusion of Angus,
Galloway, or Red Poll blood. This
sounds nice to the ear and looks we'll
upon paper, but when it comes to re-
moving in few short moments the
accumulation and improvement in
horned animals, viz: the Short-horn, it
will require more than the mere asser-
tion to perfact this method of adoption.
These old liners fail to mention or
blindly forget that they annually cause
as much pain upon the surplus male
animals of their herds by emasculation
as would be caused by the process of
dehorning. They forget when they de-
nounce the principle of improving the
Lords created animals that the mule
is valuable consumatiOn of mans
ingenuity and improvement. They for
get that Jacob. an obedient servant of
God, by his cunning by providing rods
of green popular and of hazel and chest
nut tree, flied with white streaks,
before the hocks Ill the cutters of
watering places so that when the
cattle came to drink. they. should
conceive and bring forth cattle ring
streaked. speckled and spotted,' for of
such was to be his share. Jacob became
increased exceedingly in. wealth, and
the Lord said Il will be with thee
II believe the Lord provided for us
meat and bread, but not as meat and
loaves: but in the standing OK and the
standing grain, left us to provide means
of turning to meat and bread, and has
endowed US with ingenuity to improve
from time to time upon his created
things. The OK as beast of burden
has been replaced by the horse; the ass
by the mule, and the razor backed
swine that fed upon the same husks
with the prodigal son of Scripture times
! to that Of the improved mortgage-lifter
of to-day. These are theoretical reasons
why the horns should be removed-now
for some practical ones.
EFFECT always follows cause, and the
prime cause which affected the down.
fall of the horns upon my farm was
by an accident occurring one October
evening over year ago. While my son,
a lad of l3 years, was engaged in put
ting the COWS in the stanchion, gentle
cow with very sharp horns threw her
head around at new and strange heifer
that had been introduced that day in
the barn, but instead of wounding the
heifer her horns pierced the lower
abdomen of my son who was standing
by her side in the act Of closing the
stanchion. His bowels gushed fourth
from a wound one and three-fourth
inches long. After seven weeks con-
| finement he survived. Up to this time
thought dehorning to be useless and
cruel. l was immediatly firmly and
quickly converted and the horns were
some within a few days of calving, and
others in all stages Of pregnancy, and
no i'll result followed. Different animals
bled and exhibited different signs of
pain, the younger animals exhibiting
the least signs Of pain and the bleeding
was less profuse.
MARK the appearance. The water
ing tank, the hay rack, the feed hunks
and the cattle shed, where the master
| cows and steers in former times held
| an absolute monopoly, Immediately
shared to their fellows. Sixty-five de-
horned cattle would eat out of the same
rack where but twenty head before
could gain access. Four at feed bunk
was the average before, and from ten
to thirteen after dehorning.