FARM TEAMS. 547 



FARM TEAMS. 



ATE AM of some kind is indispensable to every farm, however small. And since it costs no 

 more to maintain a good team than a poor one, the former will always be found the 

 most profitable. Whatever the kind of team employed, the animals selected for the 

 purpose should be intelligent, tractable, gentle, strong and healthy. We will also add, that if to 

 these qualities we add comeliness in form and color, we increase their value very materially, 

 for no one is so blind to the sense of beauty as not to prefer to see about them animals 

 attractive in appearance rather than those that are unsightly in color, ugly in form, ungainly, 

 and awkward in movements, however desirable they may be in other respects. Some far 

 mers seem to think that the ability to perform the work required is all that is essential in an 

 animal for farm use, utility being the chief and only object sought; but inasmuch as comeli 

 ness is to be preferred to deformity and unsightliness in everything else, we see no reason 

 why it should not apply equally well here. We remember an old farmer in New England 

 that, in our boyhood days, used for several years on his farm a pair of the most unattractive 

 oxen we ever saw, and yet the owner was always descanting upon their rare merits for work. 

 One was a brindle with a wall-eye and short lopped horns, the other a red-and- white spotted 

 animal, with wide branching horns and a hollow back, the sight of the two together being about 

 as good a combination of ugliness as could well be imagined. We recall another honest old 

 farmer who drove for years a horse so ill-looking that it was enough to give one the night 

 mare whenever the beast made its appearance, and yet it was a valuable animal for work. 

 Great improvements have been made with respect to farm teams, as with everything else per 

 taining to agriculture, since that period, and yet we frequently see too much indifference 

 manifested by some farmers in this respect. Let us not only have good and valuable teams 

 for service on the farm, but let us have those that are pleasing to look upon, as well. The 

 principal animals used for the purpose of farm labor are the horse, mule, and ox. 



The horse is usually considered the best for all general purposes, and is employed more 

 extensively for farm work than either the mule or ox. For most uses the horse or mule is 

 better than the ox; still, there are places where an ox-team can work to much better advant 

 age than either of the former. Horses are employed more extensively in New England for 

 farm work than they were from twenty to thirty years ago, and seem to be gradually taking 

 the place that the ox-team formerly occupied there; but in many sections oxen are still 

 preferred. 



The mule is an exceedingly strong animal, and possesses remarkable powers of endur 

 ance; besides, it is easily kept, and is very long-lived. It is sure-footed and, when worked 

 singly, will often be preferred to a horse for some kinds of labor. They are also quicker 

 than oxen on the road, and for this purpose are greatly preferred to the latter. It is, how 

 ever, difficult to keep them in an enclosure, as they will leap any ordinary fence. When 

 kept on a farm, it will be almost a necessity to keep them stabled for this reason, when not 

 at work. Mules are used quite extensively in connection with horses, both in the Southern 

 and Western States. Oxen are very useful for heavy kinds of work that require strength, 

 patience, and docility, such as plowing rough lands, pulling out stumps, drawing off heavy 

 stones, etc. For plowing on rough, stony lands or on steep hillsides, they have no superior. 

 They are slow travelers when compared with the horse or mule; still, they are generally very 

 patient, docile, and reliable, &quot; as patient as an ox &quot; being an old and trite maxim. 



Where teaming is to be done to a considerable extent, horses or mules would do better 

 service than oxen, since the latter are so slow in getting over the road and consequently 

 require so much time. Horses are more expensive to keep than either mules or oxen, and 

 the cost of purchasing a good team of horses is considerably more than that of a good ox or 

 mule team. 



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