55 



that the effect of dehorning upon the milk would be most marked if the cow 

 were milked immediately after the operation and while she was still excited by 

 it. An opportunity for testing this was offered this last spring when it was de- 

 cided to dehorn the remainder of the station herd. There were at this time ten 

 cows to be dehorned, all of which were giving milk. The cows were dehorned 

 April 24th, in the evening, just before milking. All of the cows were dehorned 

 before any of them were milked. The time intervening between the dehorning 

 of the tirst cow and the beginning of the milking was about one-half an hour. 



There was a very marked difference in the behavior of the different cows, 

 some of them being scarcely affected, while with others the effect was decided. 

 With all the cows that fell off either in yield or quality, there was at the follow- 

 ing milking an improvement, this being more marked in the per cent, of fat than 

 in°the yield of milk. In some cases this was sufficient to entirely obscure the 

 immediate effect. The same tendency was observed in Short's experiment, in 

 which the falling off in the milk was more than compensated for by improved 

 quality so that, although giving less milk in the week following dehorning the 

 total yield of fat was larger than before. It is probable that the slight fever 

 which followed the operation, as shown by the temperature of the animal, may 

 have caused the milk to be somewhat richer in fat. That something of this kind 

 may occur is shown by tests made at the New York Experiment Station at 

 Geneva of milk from cows that had been upon the cars for two or three days, 

 the first milking afterwards being abnormally rich. In another case where cows 

 had become feverish from improper food a similar effect was produced. In the 

 dehorned cows, whatever the cause may have been, the effect was not permanent, 

 both the yield and quality having reached the normal amount by the end of one 

 week, by which time also the temperature of the animal had become normal. 



It is interesting to note in this connection, the effect of excitement caused by 

 dehorning upon other cows that were in the stable when the operation was per- 

 formed. A few of these cows were where they could see the operation, while 

 others only came in contact with the dehorned cows after the horns were re- 

 moved. None of the cows bellowed when the horns were being removed, and 

 only two of them struggled violently. The feed for all of the cows was the same, 

 and no cause is known which would affect the yield of milk except sympathetic 

 excitement caused by contact with the dehorned cows, and yet the milk yield, of 

 these cows was diminished almost as much on the evening that the dehorning 

 was done as was that of the dehorned cows. On the following morning these 

 cows gave about their usual amount of milk. 



Usually when cows have been dehorned at the station, the operation has 

 been performed in the morning, several hours before the next milking. By ex- 

 amining the milk yield for the milking following, we find no falling off in the 

 yield for the cows not dehorned, showing that, in those cases, any excitement 

 occasioned by the dehorning had either subsided or had failed to produce the re- 

 sult corresponding to that in the experiment mentioned above. The fact seems 

 to be that excitement of this kind rapidly subsides, and does not affect the yield 

 -of the cow if she has become quiet before milking. 



