BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 279 



tomed to it, may lift heavy bodies, or perform other labor ia which 

 great physical force is required. 



The fact of a pair of oxen having moved the largest load of stones 

 on the drag, affords to our minds no better proof of their being the 

 best pair for the common purposes for which oxen are used, than the 

 fact of a man's having shouldered a barrel of pork, is proof of his 

 being the best farm laborer, He may do that, and know no more how 

 to plow, plant, sow, hoe, mow, or do any common farm labor, than a 

 roving Arab. 



It is within the knowledge and recollection o^ a m.ember of the com- 

 mittee, that a first premium of an agricultural society in this State 

 was givfen for a pair of oxen, their power on the drag being made the 

 test of their value, whose habits were so entirely uncontrollable, that 

 a man's life was in danger in passing between them to detach them 

 from the cart, and when at home, all the hands on the farm were not 

 sufficient to prevent their leaving the field when at work, even though 

 they had to go over .a stone wall, taking the cart with them. This is 

 an extreme case, and is cited only to show that injustice may be done 

 by requiring only a single test, and that a performance on the drag. 



The trial of the strength of oxen is one of the most attractive 

 features of our exhibitions. What your committee conceive to be ob- 

 jectionable, is, that strength is allowed so prominent a place as to 

 conceal the other equal or more important qualities. 



It may abate nothing from the interest incited by tlje exhibition of 

 these iiseful animals, to so change or modify the usual regulations 

 governing the same^as to best show their activity, docility, training, 

 promptness and ease to adapt themselves to any kind of labor required, 

 as well as their power. 



Your committee respectfully recommend to the societies, that they 

 require of competitors for premiums on working oxen, to show their 

 qualities as above, by moving them forward and backward, turning 

 them to the right and to the left without a load, and without the use 

 of the whip or goad. By exercising them on the plow, the holder 

 driving, and turning at the end of furrows, to the right and to the 

 left. By bringing them to the cart, first on the left, then on the right, 

 — by moving the load forward and backward ; lastly, by showing their 

 power and activity at the drag. 



As an incentive to further improvement, we would recommend that 

 a premium be offered for the best disciplined pair of oxen, without 

 reference to size, age or other property ; and as the usefulness of ani- 

 mals, whether quadrupeds or bipeds, hinges on their early training 

 and early habits, liberal premiums should be offered to boys for the 

 exhibition of well trained steers. 



