STOCK-HUSBANDRY IN ISIASSACHUSETTS. 199 



Mr. Chcevcr, will not go away with the impression that a 

 polled Angus bull cannot be made to bunt, if he cannot 

 hook ; that he cannot be made a quarrelsome animal with 

 other cattle. So far as the quietness of the cattle is con- 

 cerned, I believe that the polled Angus are as nearly equal 

 to the short-horns as any breed, but I do not believe that the 

 fact of their having no horns will uflcct materially their dis- 

 position. That is made by the care which any animal has. 



Mr. Gold. I have a personal incident that I recollect, 

 which is suggested to me by the history of short-horns and 

 by the Kentucky discussion. Cassius M. Clay, avcII known 

 to you all, several years ago was present at a convention 

 where the qualities of the short-horns of Kentucky were dis- 

 cussed, and he was asked how much milk those short-horns 

 gave. He was entirely taken aback by the question. The 

 idea of its being a matter of any importance how much milk 

 a cow gave seemed to strike him as something entirely new. 

 He hesitated, but very soon recovered himself, and said he 

 did not know exactly, but was quite sure, in fact he was 

 positive, that he had known them to give as much as half a 

 bushel ! 



]\Iajor Alvord. From what little experience I have had 

 in the care of horned cattle of two or three different breads, 

 I must say, that to me the horn seems to be simply an orna- 

 ment ; and it certainly has been to me an expensive orna- 

 ment for the cattle to have. I could reckon, as everybody 

 here could, in a few years' personal experience, many casual- 

 ties attributable solely to the horns upon cows and bulls ; 

 and while Mr. Cheever has presented the subject in the 

 light of a special breed without horns, the question at once 

 arises, — Why have horns on any breed? There is no need 

 of it. We can keep our breeds as distinct as they are now ' 

 and dispense with horns. It has been done, and it can be 

 done again. My father-in-law, who was a breeder of pure- 

 blood Devons for many years, getting his stock replenished 

 from an adjoining farm where they were directly imported, 

 never had a horned animal upon his farm ; and after some 

 years, during which he removed the horns of all his calves, 

 he bred a pure Devon bull without horns, whose calves — 

 about four out of five — had no horns ; and when a calf ap- 



