l8 MAIXE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMEXT STATIOX. 



In Bulletin Xo. 2)7 oi i^he Cornell Experiment Station the 

 statement is made that with an experience of six or seven years 

 in dehorning, although the operation has usually been per- 

 formed by inexperienced persons, no ill effects have followed. 

 A comparison of the milk yield of five dehorned cows and seven 

 cows not dehorned indicates that the dehorning did not reduce 

 the yield. 



C0NCLUSI0X5 IX REGARD TO DEHORXIXG CATTLE. 



1. Dehorning is to be recommended because dehorned cat- 

 tle are more easily cared for than those with horns, and because 

 dehorned cattle enjoy life better. "A great deal of suffering is 

 prevented by the removal of horns." 



2. The best time to dehorn cattle is during cold weather 

 when there will be no trouble from flies. 



3. To dehorn mature animals, clippers should be used that 

 will remove the horn perfectly at a single stroke and in a. 

 moment of time. 



4. AVith suitable clippers properly used, the operation is 

 simple and ver\- quickly performed. 



5. When it is skillfully performed, animals do not give evi- 

 dence of great suffering as an effect of dehorning. The tissues 

 injured in dehorning are not ver\- well supplied with nen'es and 

 they are quickly cut through. Good evidence that dehorning^ 

 is not very painful is the fact that cattle will resume feeding 

 immediately after being operated on, and the yield of milk in 

 cows is not preceptibly affected. Compared with castration of 

 colts and calves, dehorning may be considered painless. 



6. Those who are familiar with the operation of dehorning' 

 and the results of it are its most enthusiastic advocates. 



7. To prevent the growth of horns, calves under three weeks 

 of age can have the embryo horns removed with one stroke of 

 a sharp knife, or they can be treated with a caustic sufficiently 

 powerful to destroy them. 



8. In the past, efforts have frequently been made to prevent 

 the practice of dehorning on the ground that it caused needless 

 pain. It would seem to us that efforts can now better be 

 expended by endeavoring to have the last relic of a horn removed 

 from our domestic cattle, who ceased to need them when they 



