STOCK HUSBANDRY. I37 



beinor the wisest man that ever lived, said raaiiv centuries 

 ago, " Where no oxen are, the crib is clean ; but much 

 increase cometh by the strength of the ox." And I think 

 ohere is just as much wisdom in that saying now as then, and 

 that is just as applicable to the farmers of Aroostook — aye, 

 and all New England — as it was to the ancients. 



The State of Maine should raise and dispose of twenty-five 

 thousand fat steers or oxen annually more than she now does. 

 There is no team that we can do our farm work with at so 

 small expense as with good, well disciplined oxen and steers, 

 there is so little outlay to fit up the ox team for active opera- 

 tions, while the cost is very much larger for horses, as well 

 as for repairs. 



Not that I would discourage the use of horses on the farm, 

 by any means ; but there are many farms, and I might almost 

 say a majority of the farms in the State, where two, three 

 and often more horses are kept where but one is needed, and 

 if their places were supplied with first-class oxen and steers, 

 it would be a source of profit to their owners and a real 

 blessing to the State. There would be less talk about hard 

 times, less expense for trotting gear and blacksmiths' and 

 harness-makers' bills, less time devoted to the race-course by 

 our young men, less debt and failures. The fast horse 

 business is the bane of the State, and has subjected it to loss 

 that is second to no other event except our late war. The 

 trotting horse mania has cost the people of the State millions 

 of dollars, and the end is not yet. And who can wonder at 

 the infatuation, when nearly every leading agricultural society 

 ofiers so much larger prizes to encourage the raising of 

 trotters than for any other class of live-stock. 



What breeds of cattle shall we keep ? I almost fancy I hear 

 from some interested listener this query. Now I shall answer 

 this question with the fewest words possible. Be thoroughly 

 convinced in your own mind what breed is best adapted to your 

 locality (all things considered) and your wants. Then get the 

 best of that breed that you can, take the best possible care of 

 them after you get them, and with an ideal of a perfect animal 



