464 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



of the scrubs and substituting better cattle. I would not advise farmers to> 

 buy high priced full bloods. Most farmers have not been accustomed to 

 giving the care needed by high bred animals. But they can afford to grade 

 up. Every neighborhood ought to have a full blooded bull. 



Mr. Dougherty: Are not high grades better feeders than pure bloods? 



Prof. Cook: I doubt it. Mr. Watkins at Manchester is a large feeder 

 and greatly prefers the pure roan Shorthorn. Last summer we had poor 

 pasture and ran short of food. Should we sell part, or put all on short 

 rations? 



Mr. Dougherty: With corn as cheap as it is keep them all'up until buyers 

 will give good prices, but sell rather than let any go poor. 



Lieut. Simpson: The great pastures of the world are in the west. Cattle 

 have replaced the buffalo. Now if Michigan would compete with the west, 

 she must use the best breeds and the best methods. A year ago last fall 

 many farmers found themselves short of feed, and those who bought extra 

 feed to carrry all through, lost money, as the west kept up the supply of 

 stock and kept the market down. 



Dr. Beal : As to buying feed for stock, there is a counterbalancing element 

 of profit in the manure. 



Mr. Dougherty: Breeding animals should not be kept fat on high feed. 



Mr. Hanshaw: I heard a man say that if he could not afford to buy feed 

 to feed out, then he could not afford to feed out what he raised himself. Is 

 that so? 



Lieut. Simpson : It is a question of times. Sometimes yes and sometimes 

 no; but we must remember that it is the western supply that controls the 

 market. 



Mr. : How about dehorning? 



Mr. Dougherty : I have no experience. 



Prof. Cook: I rode 18 miles through the place where the idea originated 

 and did not see a horn in the whole distance. They seem to approve it. 



I lately talked with Mr. J. S. Woodward who buys sheep in Michigan to 

 feed in New York State, and he says he cannot afford to pasture sheep. He 

 sells two months old lambs to the New York market at ten dollars apiece. 

 He has very warm barns, and has his lambs dropped in the fall. He feeds 

 the sheep ensilage and all the grain they will eat, and the lambs suckle 

 the dams. They are Dorsets, Shropshires and Grade Merinos. He feeds 

 rye, oats, bran and oil meal. He keeps no cows usually, but this fall bought 

 200 milch cows and expects to beef all of them next spring, and meanwhile 

 to pay for them in the winter from milk and butter. His ten dollar lambs 

 dress 24 pounds and weigh 35, alive. He feeds altogether ground feed. 



Mr. : Everyone here feeds whole grain. 



Mr. Jas. Major: I have had a little experience in dehorning, since a year 

 ago. The animals did not seem to suffer and now don't injure one another. 

 I cut the horn one-half inch below the base of the horn, but that varies with 

 age. Older animals should be cut a little lower. I fill the cavity of the 

 horn with cotton saturated with weak carbolic acid. I dehorned 50 head of 

 Mexican steers in five to eight minutes apiece. An 18 inch fine hand saw is 

 best for the purpose. 



Mr. Holt: I had a vicious cow and had her dehorned, and the only trouble- 

 was she shrunk on her milk the first night, and that was all. 



