DEHORNING COWS. I5 



the operation, and who entertained exaggerated ideas as to its 

 severity. 



"In no case were witnesses able to refer to an instance where 

 a farmer was dissatisfied with the results or willing to give up 

 his right to continue the practice, after having performed the 

 operation. 



"In addition to the evidence as to the amount of pain involved 

 in the operation, much evidence was received as to the com- 

 mercial advantages accruing from the operation, and empha- 

 sizing the point that a great deal of suffering is prevented by 

 the removal of the horns." 



As a result of the inquiry the commission unanimously recom- 

 mended that the practice of dehorning be permitted and 

 encouraged. 



DEHORNING AT THE MAINE STATION. 



Part of the Station herd were hornless ; the remainder w^ere 

 dehorned to secure a greater degree of quiet among the animals 

 when all alike were dehorned, and to lessen the danger of injury 

 to each other and the attendants. 



While the Station has never lost an animal from goring, we 

 have at several different times had animals severely injured, and 

 not a season passes but some of the herd are marked by the 

 sharp horns of their companions. In winter, w^hen the animals 

 are turned into the yards for exercise, their exuberance of spirits 

 and love of frolic sometimes carry them so far as to cause them 

 to chastise each other severely. The most serious trouble occurs 

 during fly time when animals, desperate from the annoyance 

 of the winged pests, rush among their mates, hooking right and 

 left, and showing no mercy in their momentary frenzy. 



For the last three years the calves born in the Station herd 

 have been dehorned when young by the use of caustic potash. 

 The dehorning has been done as soon as the buttons could be 

 felt, and not later than twenty days from birth. Calves dehorned 

 at this age have never yet shown any horns. One, dehorned 

 when thirty-five days old, developed dwarfed horns an inch or 

 an inch and a half long. 



Dehorning with potash is done by clipping the hair away from 

 around the buttons, moistening the end of the potash slightly, 



