CATTLE MARKING.
In all large and imperfectly settled countries the use of a private
mark, or brand, is most important, not only as a means by which animals
can be identified and recovered when lost, but as the evidence of legal
transfer and of particular breed or strain of stock. Animals are most
commonly marked with either some conspicuous and tenacious pigment,
by slits or cuts of definite form made in the ear, or by initials or
some symbol branded with a heated iron on some part of the body. Sheep
may be both ear-marked and lettered with either red or black paint.
The lettering is easily and expeditiously effected by the use of the
cover or bottom of an old biscuit tin. Lay your sheet of tin on the
table, and with the point of your knife sketch out the outline of the
letter or letters you have determined on as your mark, taking care
that they are of conspicuous size; then with a mallet and chisel cut
out the letters. You will then have a sort of stencilling sheet; cut
it to a convenient size, nail a piece of wood to it for a handle, and
your marker is complete. Place it against your sheep, paint over the
outside of the plate with a large paint-brush, and your mark is made
in an instant. Your sacks, bags, and boxes can be marked in the same
manner with the same contrivance. A herd of cattle can be temporarily
marked by a newly-arrived settler in a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes, as follows: Procure a waggon whip handle or a long pole; then
lash to its end a round ball of either hide, with the hair on, or a bit
of old blanket, fixing on your ball to the stick just as the striker of
a drum-stick is made. Dip this in a pot of paint or tar, and then put
it adroitly against the haunch or shoulder of the animal to be marked.
Give it a sudden sharp twist round, and there will be instantly formed
a round ball-like spot. With a lot of timid newly-purchased cattle,
with which you are anxious to move off at once, the above plan will be
found a good one.
A native herdsman would despise such means of recognition; and many of
the colonial farmers would know individually every horse, ox, or sheep
in their possession, just as we know by expression of the countenance
or peculiarity of figure any person among our own acquaintance; and we
have even heard of a case in which the calf of a cow, that had been
stolen many years before, was recognised by its resemblance to its
mother, and the theft thus traced out and detected.
The cutting of marks in the ear seems to be the more primitive and,
perhaps, the easier, as involving less need of tools or apparatus; but
it is difficult to give sufficient variety to enable many farmers to
have each a distinctive mark. One slit, or more, in the right or left
ear, a "swallow-tail" in one and a slit in the other, or a hole punched
with a wad cutter, are among the most common; but all are liable to be
torn off by dogs or wild animals; and the hole in the ear is especially
objectionable, as the creature itself is almost sure to tear it through
by scratching with his hinder foot. Moreover, almost all are liable
to be altered should the marked property fall into dishonest hands;
and most farmers, and, it may be said, all traders, now employ the
branding iron--fashioned to represent either their own initials or
some arbitrary sign, as a cross, a square, a triangle, a circle or any
segment of it, a star of any particular number of rays, the figure
formed by crossing two triangles (as here shown).
[Illustration]
In America, and some other countries, it is requisite on the purchase
of animals--horses and mules especially--that the traveller should
not only get a receipt for his purchase money, but get indorsed on it
by the seller his acknowledgment of the new owner's counter-brand, in
manner as follows: "Received of Capt. ----, the sum of ---- dollars, in
payment for a brown mare mule. Seller's brand, O. B.; buyer's brand,
W. Signature, &c." The new brand should be placed under the old one,
and unless these precautions are taken the new purchaser stands a very
excellent chance of having his recently-acquired stock seized on at
some frontier post, and detained until the legality of the transfer
has been ascertained. It is sometimes agreed on that the owner shall
renounce all claim to an animal by reversing his own brand above that
originally made by him, thus, [reverseB/A--invertedA/B]
There are tales, however, of certain dwellers at a distance from the
law who have acquired considerable skill in altering the marks of any
stray cattle that may fall into their hands, and this is an operation
requiring no little skill, for should the mark be old, an iron made
too hot will burn the addition in so deeply that it will for a long
time display an air of freshness not in accordance with the original.
Some initials are very easy of alteration; thus, C may be converted
into O, or Q, or G; I may be made at least into thirteen letters
without increasing its size, which, when it is used in combination
with others, is a point of considerable importance, and into several
more if a slight increase may be ventured on. P may become B or R,
and L or F may be changed to E. It may be well for us to point out
to those who have charge of Government stock, or are likely to have
stolen animals offered them for sale, that the thief not unfrequently
sees fit to adopt an anchor as his brand, as, if it is of proper size,
the broad arrow, by the addition of the stock and flukes, makes a very
respectable one. We have heard of an unscrupulous colonist who branded
all his cattle with a frying pan, and had no particular place on which
to apply it; thus, no matter what the brand on a stray horse or ox
might be, he had nothing to do but to clap the red hot disk above it,
and his own mark speedily and effectually obliterated every other. It
is said that he afterwards repented, and, in proof of it, led a most
exemplary life in a Government department for fourteen years.
[Illustration]
It is a good plan to have a small iron and to brand cattle upon the
horns, as it is impossible to efface the mark by any process that
would not betray itself. This iron may also be used for branding small
articles--such as tent poles, yokes, waggon-gear, or anything in the
traveller's possession--not only as a precaution against theft, but
as a means of affording an indication of his fate should he perish,
as many a poor fellow has done in a gallant but fruitless effort to
explore an unknown country.
[Illustration: 1-9]
Any man with a few tools and a moderate share of ingenuity can make his
own branding iron from a suitable-sized chunk of soft iron. File it to
the right form, give it an even surface; then with a pencil sketch the
letter, or mark, on the iron, only taking care to reverse the object
as you would in drawing on wood. When your pencil lines are complete,
scratch them in with a sharp hard point. Rub a little gunpowder and
grease into them in order that they may show conspicuously, and
then, with a hammer and small cold chisel, proceed to chip away the
superfluous iron until the pattern stands boldly and sharply out. Heat
it and try the print on a board, and, if requisite, trim and file again
until it is to your satisfaction. A large drill is of great service
in making branding irons, which, when finished, can be attached to
handles either by leaving a piece of metal on the back of the chunk
long enough to weld the hand iron to, or a screw may be made at the
back to hold it in its place. Some persons make chunk, hand iron, and
all from one piece of metal; others form the letters, &c., from narrow
strips of iron, bending them to the required figure, and then riveting
them fast to a sort of frame. We, however, consider the solid chunk
form of iron by far the best and most durable. A clear charcoal or wood
fire is best for heating the brand in. It should be heated just hot
enough to singe rather than burn into the skin; so long as the roots
of the hair are destroyed the burning may be considered effective. As
we have before stated, the particular strain, or breed, of certain
animals may be known by the peculiar way in which they are branded. The
Arabs have a great number of private marks, which few, save themselves,
understand. Horses and dromedaries are marked in an entirely different
manner. There is also a distinction drawn by them between large and
small horses. The former are known as "Aneezah" Arabs, and, if of high
cast, usually bear the peculiar mark of the tribe by which they are
reared. All Arab horses under 14 hands are called "Nedjdi." These,
when found by any tribe to possess more than ordinary purity of breed
and excellence, are marked with an extremely narrow crescent, like
a new moon, with the horns a little more than an inch apart. In the
illustration on p. 481 we give a few examples of dromedary branding, as
showing the particular class of animal indicated by it. 1. Amadabieh.
2 shows the general mark of a Bicharieh tribe, which will be seen to
exist on all the other examples. The additions show the private brand
of each small community, or division of the tribe, thus: 3. Amitirah;
4. Mahomed-Ouzabieh; 5. Menacir; 6. Achabab; 7. Cawarah; 8. Mahazi; 9.
Valgat.
Having shown the marks by which many strains or breeds of camels may
be known, it may not be amiss to give a few general hints on camel and
hygeene purchase and management.