22 



great, as dehorned cattle could be fed loose in open sheds, they required less- 

 space, less food and less labor, while at the same time the manure could be saved 

 to greater advantage. 



Dairy Cows. 



Dairymen further claimed that dehorning was a valuable expedient in the 

 care and management of dairy cows, and experiments made at the agricultural 

 stations, together with the experience of farmers, indicate that the milk yield is 

 not diminished for more than one or two milkings after the operation, while it 

 was pointed out that the increased quiet secured in the herd resulted in a larger 

 and richer flow. In feeding, watering and stabling there is economy of food and 

 labor, and much less liability of accidents. Many of the witnesses who advocated 

 the practice are prominently identified with the cheese industry of Oxford 

 county, and after one and two years' experience, they stated, without any reser- 

 vation, their confident belief that the advantages attainable by the practice are 

 vastly out of proportion to the pain inflicted. Two of the witnesses claimed that, 

 from a financial standpoint, the absence of horns from their herd was worth $50 

 per year, while the president of the Western Ontario Dairymen's Association 

 stated that if he were buying 100 dairy cows he would gladly give $200 more 

 for them without than with horns. The fact, also, thai at several of the agricul- 

 tural experiment stations, all dairy cows are dehorned must be taken as evidence 

 that the advantages are regarded as important by the scientific men of the 

 profession. 



Evidence as to Increased Value. 



From the evidence received the following statements might be quoted a* 

 indicating, to some extent, the commercial interests involved : 



Jas. W. Robertson, Dominion Dairy Commissioner: "The additional profit in feeding steera 

 for market is considerable, owing to economy of labor. The increased gain might range from $8 

 up, owing to extra quiet, saving in labor, feeding in sheds and so on." 



W. C. Edwards M.P. : "W.ien the steer-feeders of Ontario get into the way of it, and 

 feed loose in the buildings such as we have erected for the purpose, it wdl be millions of dollars 

 annually in the pockets of our farmers, in the saving of manure and the economy of feed and 

 labor." 



William H. York, farmer in Middlesex county : "Rather than havethe horns back again 

 on my d dry cows I would be willing to pay an annual tax of $50." Stephen York, 

 in endorsing rhis statement, adds : " I am quire satisfied that the benefit is worth that 1 have 

 lost ab .ut #10 a year for the last twenty years in bloody milk, and I believe that most of this 

 loss was caused by horns " 



William Levack. Toronto, a wholesale butcher, handling about 5,000 head of cattle per year 

 for the local trade : " We have a great deal of loss from bruises and damaged hides Very 

 often we have to cut away the flanks and briskets altogether. The injured part swells up, and 

 the blood gathers there, making itinto a jelly. My loss in this way is from $1,000 to $1,500 

 every vear." . . 



William ^realock, Toronto, also a wholesale butcher : "lam in favor of dehorning trom a 

 business standpoint, hecau-e the weaker animals get bruised, sometimes to the extent of $10 a 

 bullock There is always one or more injured in every carload, with an average loss of $10 



Cornelius Flanagan, Toronto, an extensive cattle exporter : " I would prefer cattle without 

 horns on account of their freedom from bruises. The injury in this way is about $5 per carload. 



