84 



I have witnessed the operation of dehorning ; there was pain while it was going on, but after-' 

 wards they did not Bee no to be Buffering much ; they all healed nicety in six weeks ; there was 

 no falling off in flesh and no marked difference in the How of milk ; I watched to see if there 

 was any taint in the milk after dehorning, but did not notice anything; I believe that dehorning 



jjood thing for the owners and a humane thing for the animals themselves ; a man who 

 performs the operation in a bungling manner should be liable to punishment, but any one witli 

 a good nerve can do it as well as a scientific man : the practice was introduced into this neigh- 

 borhood about two years ago, and is spreading rapidly : probably fifty per cent of the cows 

 supplying milk to the Bayhana factory are dehorned ; and 1 believe that in another year all will 

 be ; I do not know of anyone who Ins tried dehorning and is now dissatisfied with the results : 

 I see no objection to the milk of a cow that is discharging from the head after dehorning ; the 

 discharge 1 think is simply serum and is not dangerous ; I had a muley cow that became quite 

 a boss after the others were dehorned ; I would not favor performing the operation on animals 

 under two years old— any age after that ; I think the operation should be limited to the fall and 

 I prefer the month of November ; at that time trouble from flies is over and the animals are in 



1 health and strength ; I do not see any particular benefit from the plaster of tar ; I prefer 

 dehorning after the horn is developed, because the animals if allowed to have horns learn to use 

 them, and after taking them away they become helpless in this respect. 



Chat>cey Smith, farmer s son, township of Dereham, sworn, said : I have had a good 

 deal of experience in dehorning and have taken the horns off about 250 head of cattle : 1 started 

 two years ago , I was visiting in the State of Illinois and saw a good de<*l of the practice. 

 It was a rare thing to find a herd of dairy cattle there that was not dehorned ; on coming home 

 I dehorned my father's herd, and since then I have performed the operation for neighbors ; 

 I could not say that I ever saw a case where the animal suffered much from dehorning ; it is 

 not usual to have much lo.-s of blood ; a bull will bleed more than others as it is more full- 

 blooded and the horn is thicker ; my father's herd was the first in the neighborhood to be 

 dehorned ; this was two years ago last February ; people watched them a good deal and saw 

 that they were doing well, were quieter and were giving just as much milk as before ; the fall 

 is the best time for the operation and November is a good month ; in spring cows are not in such 

 good condition ; I would not advocate dehorning being practiced in summer ; I think bulls 

 should be dehorned for greater safety : I never knew a case where parties had their cows 

 dehorned and afterwards were dissatified ; out west the payment for dehorning is ten cents per 

 head for large numbers ; I have refused to operate on a number of cows this spring because 

 they were heavy in calf. 



Tilsoxbukg, May 12th. 



The Commission resumed its sitting in the Tilsonburg town hall on Thursday, May 12th, 

 at 10 o'clock, when the following evidence was received : 



Benjamin Hopkins, farmer, Dereham township sworn, said : I am salesman for the four 

 factories of the Brownsville Cheese Manufacturing Company, and am managing director of the 

 Brownsville factory. I keep 20 dairy cows, and had all my cattle dehorned in November 1890 ; 

 no bad results followed, aud there was no appreciable falling off in the milk. Quiet in a herd is 

 very desirable. I have often been greatly annoyed at the cattle hooking each other coming up the 

 lane and at the gate. Since dehorning there is great improvement in handling them, and a 

 great change in their disposition towards each other. At the water tank they will now come 

 right up as close as they can and drink together — 14 or 15 of them at once. Before, a man had 

 to stand around to drive the boss away and it would take an hour to water them all. I prefer 

 chains to stanchions in securing in the stable, and I have double stalls for the cattle. I believe 

 the operation is a humane one to the cattle as well as beneficial to the owner. I studied up the 

 question and got all the information I could. I made a comparative statement of the milk 

 given by my cows in 1890 and 1891. The total quantity from 18 cows in 1891 was 103,241 pounds, 

 and in 1890 it was 88,521 pounds from 14 cows and 4 heifers ; calling the 4 heifers two cows, that 

 won Id be 16 cows, allowing 1,000 pounds off for each of the 4 heifers would be 4,000 pounds, giving 

 a gain in the year 1891, when the animals were dehorned, of 10,720 pounds, or an average per 

 cow of about 600 pounds. I would not say that this difference was due to dehorning as the pasture 

 might have something to do with it, but I think it was partly due to taking the horns off. I 

 would expect to get more milk from a herd of dehorned animals than from the same number of 

 horned ones. The total quantity of cheese made in the Brownsville factory last year was 145 

 tons. The milk of probably 800 cows goes to that factory — a large number of these animals are 

 dehorned — I do not think as many as half. The men who dehorned their cattle in this 

 neighborhood are good business men, prominent in church and public matters ; they are all 

 thinking men who would not resort to cruel practices and would not favor dehorning unless 



