The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-09-22
Frederick Haskih's Letter
NOSE PRINTS OF ANIMALS

- sAsAASoA "a DeSSuc ~ Soteie-eSDe.
cfally such BREEDS as the Red pu,l
the Jersey, and Aberdeen Angus
which are solid or marked With
comparative uniformity. The Hal.
stein-Friesian. with its mott,cd
coat. and the Hereford. with nee.
liar markings Of white on face and
shoulder. present fewer diffi-
culties.
When a pure bred COW is regis.
tered, the individual markings ar,
drawn on the record sheet on
printed outline of a cow. But even
when an animal has peculiar
marks supplementary means az
identification do not come amiss,
Various attempts are made b,
owners to insure Identification. II
q herd of pure bred cows each 4
always kept in special stall and
in q certain pasture.
Marked by Chains.
Jersey cows are often marked
by a chain fastened around one
horn with a number on the pad.
lock. This method of identification
is said to be an old custom in thu
Island of Jersey, and 1t has bees
adopted for this particular breed
in this country as we'll. Othe.
breeds are sometimes marked BY a
metal tag fastened in one ear.
These marks Of ownership, how.
ever, can be removed.
Lately pigs have been marked BY
a novel method of tattooing. Phon.
ograph needles are set on end in
metal. SC, that the points form a
number. This stencil is then din.
ped in a harmless kind of paint
and the hog is marked by quickly
imprinting the tattoo label in his
thick skin as he runs past the man
with the stencil. This method Of
marking hogs has been found valu-
able in cases where a herd is exA,
posed to disease. The exposed
hogs, differently marked, can be
given careful examination by the
inspectors before they are allowed
to go on the meat market.
The use Of the nose print, so FAR
as stocks are concerned, would be
mainly to facilitate Identification in
buying and selling. Take the in
stance of dealer who goes
abroad to buy cattle. The animals
he selects are tested and found
free from tuberculosis. If he
should make and keep the nose
prints of the cattle, that is assum-
ing that the idea proves practical
he could satisfy himself that he re-
ceived the tested cows.
+ The main objection to the nose
print system is that it would in
volve expense if it were used as .
part of registry procedure. Regis
tering cattle is already an expense
to the farmer. Only about one
fifth of the pure bred cattle in the
country are registered, mainly be-
cause of the cost, although having
cattle registered is an advantage
when it comes to selling them. A
buyer of unregistered cattle takes
a chance on his judgment and on
the honesty of the owner He has
no official knowledge of the All
malls pedigree or record.
If nose prints we're added to the
registry system, the books OF rec
ords which are filed at the breed
ers' association headquarters
would have to be printed different
L y. A place for the nose print to
be pasted on would have to be ar
aranged and the record keeping
would be somewhat changed. The
, result would probably be an IT.
crease in the cost of registering
cattle. The cost of making prints
to be kept at home for his own REF
erence would not be very exper-
sive for cattle owner, howevag.
1t is claimed by some students
that every creature has some point
or points of individuality. Zebras.
for instance. are popularity sup
posed to be marked with regular.
candy cane stripes. AS matter Of
fact. study of zebras has shown
| that each animal has distinctive
markings.
| 1t has been pointed out BY N
Identification expert that this
| principle extends into the plant
world, and that no two leaves on
the same tree are veined exactly
alike. If this, theory is correct It
may be that the muzzle OF an ami
NAL contains the clue to its unnlis,
taxable identity.