The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-07


tie in this country during the past twenty
years has resulted in attracting attention to
the physical feature which years ago was not
taken into account at all Undoubtedly horns
were planted in the brows of cattle fer some
wise purpose by the Almighty but the pur-
pose has never been clearly demonstrated,
except as now and then an angry bull woulo
catch pugilistic Irishman on his horns and
toss him into the air; or perhaps catch a
small boy on his way to a spring OF water
and give him a lift of a kind not altogether
welcome TO the boy, but very appreciative 10
the animal himself. There was once an Irish
man who sat on the fence by the roadside.
looking at a believing bull in the field; and
he got to laughing as he thought of the fun
he would enjoy when, on taking hold of the
horns of that bull, he would throw him On
his back He became so enthused with that
notion that he got down off the fence and
approached the bull, who took him on his
horns and chucked him over his head. When
the Irishman got up on his feet he looked
around in a daZed sort of a wey, AID re-
marked: "Begorrah 1t was a good thing
had my laugh on the fence before tackled
that big bull. l didn't know he had so much
brains in his head
1t has always been a source o. wonder to
scientists why those big prongs should stand
years there has been very strong tend ncy
to breed animals that should be produced
without these attachments The Poiled Angus
is probably the closest approach that has
ever been made to a successful result of eX-
pertinent 1t is said that hornless cattle can
be made to be the outcome of animals, male
and female that were dehorned in their calf
period. Years ago the muley COW, or one
that happened to be dropped and which de
veloped horness, regarded as a freak
of nature. But the old-fashioned muley cow
was Just as good as any other cow, and was
always looked upon with more affection by
the farmer boys and lassies than the animal
which came forward with head down and
prongs extended, read for a conflict with I'M
equal forces.
During the past ten years farmers have
turned their attention to the practice Of
dehornipg their calves. recent bulletin
from the New Hampshire college agricultural
experiment station treats OF this subject IN
various phases. Dr. II. II. Lainson plainly
saws that many of the unpleasant features as
ISOLATED with the dehorning of cattle may be
avoided by preventing the horns of calves
from developing. He reasons that the horns
consist of two parts, and that they of
different origin. There is outer horny
she'll which is a growth extending from the
and an outgrowth of the skull When the
calf is born these parts are undeveloped. This
is the time to crop off the eXcrescence. The
horn is nothing more than tissue There Is
a zone in the skin around the base OF the
horn which is styled a matrx and from this
source new horn cells are constantly being de-
veloped. In their growth they throw off the
cider parts. This is the time when the horn
can be most successfully and painlessly re-
n- n
horns which are already more or less de-
veloped, the cut must be made deep enough
to include the matriX the stump of the
horn will continue to grow He adds that
1t may not be out of place to remark that
there is no danger of cutting into the brain
cavity as at this point the brain lies very
deeply.
In the experiments that have been made
in several of the colleges the use of caustic
potash has been found most available. II
rapidly destroys the skin and other tissues
if kept in contact with them. When proper
ly applied 1t destroys the matrix, or growing
point of the horny tissue, as well the sub
stance which the bony pith finds it's source
of development The plan is to cut away
the hair from around the young horn, ana
after application care should be taken to wipe
away all offerings by rag or sponge, mois-
tened with soap suds Or water containing
little ammonia. Inc ABOVE is simple pro-
cess for dehorning young cattle.
The advantages come particularly in feed
ing and in shipping. A shipper of live stock
in South st. Paul said yesterday to the writ
er that in his judgment within the next
twenty-five years, horned animal would not
be seen in the stock yards. He expressed the
belief that by closer breeding calves would
be dropped hornless In the case of the
Polled Angus. 1t was his judgment also,
4lot Nv, labo iry hull nd no
hefers a few reproductions would eventuate
in the development of a line of stock abso-
lutely hornless. This man has marketed
more than a thousand cattle at South St. Paul
during the past twelve months, and has made
a study of this very question.
The question of cruelty to the animal, In
connection with dehorning, has been frequent
ly raised by good people who want to do
something nice and don't know how 1t IS
perfectly well known that the steer, in order
to become a steer must go through a GER
tain physical and mechanical change. The
most delicate organ is touched in effecting
this alteration of his condition for market.
The advocates of dehorning cattle contend
that the operation upon the head Of a young
calf is attended with much less pain than
that which is associated with the operations
upon the more delicate part. There Is no
doubt in the minds of any person at all IA
miliar with stock breeding and growing that
great advantage will result from the dehorn-
Ing of cattle in their infancy. Only few
days ago there appeared in an agricultural
paper a statement to the effect that a farmer
went into his barnyard one morning and found
there, lying dead, a handsome colt with his
side gored by the prongs of a steer, upon
the ends Of which were the blood clots which
showed him to be the cause of the loss In
moment OF anger he had probably attacked
the young animal with large resulting loss
to the owner of both. Shippers of live stock
will gladly welcome the advancement of sci
entifc treatment of cattle looking to the
gradual dehorning of this entire family.