87 



dehorned on December 1st, 189U. For the season of 1891 the same nineteen cows, with three- 

 others added, in all 22 cows, gave the following result : Milk delivered at the factory, 99,849 

 lbs, an average per cow of 4,538 lbs. To the statement of 1891 must be added the milk that 

 seven cows would produce in one month, which milk was consumed by 14 calves before being 

 turned out to grass. 



Mr. Drury. — Making allowance for that then, the average would be 4,770, and the differ- 

 ence per cow between the two years would be about 232 pounds — to what do you attribute the 

 increase ? A. 1 attribute it to the fact that the cattle are quieter at feed and at the water trough. 

 Cows kept quiet in the yard and lanes will give more milk than when they are being knocked 

 around with the horns. 



Q Then dehorning represents a money gain to that extent ? A. Yes, besides the increased 

 comfort in handling them. 



Louis Bate, cattle dealer, township of Houghton, Norfolk county, sworn, testified : 



Mr. Drury. —You are engaged in buying and selling cattle, Mr. Bate ? A. Yes, T buy 

 cattle from the farmers and ship them to the Toronto and Montreal markets. 



Q Have you much difficulty from hooking when y<u bring strange lots together ? A. Yes, 

 when we turn 20 or 25 cattle into a yard, tl.ey go to killing one another, and we have to watch 

 them all the time. I have lost money by buying muleys, because they can't defend themselves 

 and all the others will go for them. 



Q. How many cattle is a carload ? A. About 20 is a good load and without horns we could 

 put in "22. There would be less risk in shipping if the horns were off. 



Cj. Have you seen much damage from horns at the market ? A. Yes, the cattle hurt each 

 other a good deal, and if you sell a damaged steer to a butcher he will make a difference in the 

 price afterwards. 



Q. Can you get a better price for hornless animals ? A. Yes, I bought 19 two-year-old 

 steers and one cow, all dehorned, from Mr. Edward York They weighed when sold 1,126 

 pounds, and one year before they weighed 555 pounds. This was a gain of 600 pounds per 

 head in twelve months, and Mr. York told me that no grain or roots had been fed to them. 

 I bought them in August and kept them until October. One clay I found the whole twenty 

 under the shade of one apple tree, and they seemed to enjoy life better without horns. I got 

 $3.75 per hundred for them, which was 50 cents per hundred better than any steers of their 

 class sold for on that day in Toronto. They sold better on account of the fact that there 

 w T asn't a scratch on them. 



Hiram B. Kinney, farmer, South Norwich, Oxford county, sworn : 



Mr. Drury. — Have you dehorned your cattle, Mr. Kinney? A. Yes, I dehorned the first 

 ones three years ago last October. 1 assisted to dehorn a cow four years ago through reading of 

 it being done in the States. I had a good many colts and I thought they would run together a 

 good deal safer. 



Q. Were you satisfied with the results ? A. Thoroughly so. On May 21st last (1891) 1 

 dehorned 27 head. Experience has confirmed me in the desirability of the practice. Before I 

 saw it done I didn't like the idea at all, but after seeing it, I came to the conclusion that they 

 didn't suffer near as much as I thought they would, they continue i to eat as usual and didn't 

 fall off in milk. I used an ordinary fine-toothed butcher's siw, and fastened the animal in the 

 stanchion. 



(Witness produced a section of the skull of a dehorned animal that had died IS months 

 after the operation. The cavity at the base of the horn was found to have completely boned 

 over.) 



Daniel T. Smith, farmer, township of Dereham, Oxford county, sworn, said : [ keep 19 

 cows ; dehorned first in February 1S90, and am perfectly satisfied with the results. The first 

 season after dehorning I had an increase of about 200 pounds of milk per cow ; I was the first 

 man in the neighborhood who had his cattle dehorned. In September before, I visited friends 

 in Kane county, Illinois, 50 miles west of Chicago, and found that the majority of the cows 

 there were dehorned. My son was out there too, and when he came back he proposed to take 

 the horns off our stock. I favored it, but would not let him as I thought it would raise a row 

 in the neighborhood. When I was away my son took off the horns, and the thing was soon 

 talked of all over. We were abused a good deal, but lived through it, and the neighbors after 

 seeing how our cattle thrived followed our example. Anyone accustomed to cattle would not 

 be deceived as to the age < f an animal that had no horns. I agree in general with what the 

 previous witnesses have said. I do not think that dehorning should be done in summer. It 

 should be done with proper tools and by some one who understood the business. 



