USE OF OXEN. 



The advantages to he derived from a more extended use of Oxen in the 

 hushandry of the United States. ^ 



BY J. S. SKINNER, ESQ., WASHINGTON CITY. 



So deep is the conviction of the great saving which would be ac- 

 complished by individuals, adding immensely, in the aggregate, to 

 our national wealth, by a more extended use of oxen in lieu of horses 

 in the general labors of husbandry, that I desire to present the views 

 by which that conviction has been established. 



That " a farming district may be judged of by its working oxen^ as 

 safely as by its barns or its corn-fields," has been laid down as an ax- 

 iom by a committee of farmers — working men in the true sense of 

 the word — of Massachusetts, at an exhibition where no premium was 

 offered for horses, expressly on the ground that " it was believed that 

 the interest of the farmer is promoted by substituting the ox for the- 

 horse, ybr most purposes^ as he is fed with less expense, is more pa- 

 tient of labor, and is more valuable when his service is ended." This 

 declaration in favor of the ox for " most purposes " is at once expli- 

 cit and broad, and might seem to settle the question ; but there arc 

 considerations arising out of difference of soil and climate, which ob- 

 viously demand a comparison of circumstances to see how far that 

 system admits of general application, which is here proclaimed on 

 the best authdrity to be expedient throughout New -England: and 

 this brings us at once to the most formidable objections to the use of 

 oxen — their alleged incapacity to withstand, when laboring, the heat 

 of more southern latitudes, and their slowness of motion. 



As to New-England, in addition to the evidence already quoted, 

 we may give here the answer of the venerable Josiah Quincy, now 

 president of the time honored Harvard University, to a letter once 

 addressed to him by the writer of this. " Oxen," said he, " are used 

 almost wholly for plow and team work in this quarter of the coun- 

 try. A single horse is usually kept by our farmers to go to mill and 

 to church, and for the convenience of the family. This is so universal 

 as to be almost without exception among mere farmers. They cer- 

 tainly answer all purposes, except perhaps speed, and in this, on a 

 long journey, they are considered as quite equal to horses. Our far- 

 mers are so satisfied with their utility and economy, that no argument 

 would induce them to change." 



