130 



LOGGING 



Conditions have changed within recent years, and the higher 

 cost of labor and supplies has led the logger to use either horses 

 or mules because they are more active than oxen. Oxen 

 are now most extensively employed in the hardwood regions of 

 the Appalachians and in the yellow pine region of the South, 

 where they are frequently supplemented by horses or mules. 



The following conditions are those under which oxen may be 

 used to the best advantage: 



(i) On swampy ground, because they do not mire as badly 

 as the smaller-footed horse or mule. 



(2) For skidding on brushy ground, as they require little 

 swamping. 



(3) On steep slopes, especially if the ground is rough and the 

 underbrush abundant, because they are not excitable in difficult 

 situations. 



One advantage is that eight or ten animals can be handled 

 by one teamster, while only four or five horses or mules can be 

 worked by one man. Oxen stand heavy pulHng day after day 

 better than other draft animals and also require a minimum of 

 attention because only one feed per day is necessary if the 

 animals are turned out to graze at night. 



They are slow on short hauls but they can be loaded more 

 heavily and thus partially ofifset the greater speed of horses and 

 mules, although they are not as serviceable as mules on hot, 

 dusty roads because they suffer from continual exposure to the 

 direct rays of the sun, and, on very warm days, may be easily 

 killed by over-exertion due to careless driving. They can be 

 used in cold regions without danger. Under average conditions 

 an ox will travel fourteen miles in eight hours. 



Oxen are usually harnessed with a yoke; seldom with a collar 

 and harness. The driver controls them by the voice and by a 

 heavy rawhide whip. They are worked in teams of from three 

 to five yoke. In a team of five yoke the front pair are called 

 "leaders," the next two pairs are "in the swing," the fourth 

 pair are "point cattle" and the rear pair are called "wheelers." 

 The leaders are the best trained, while the wheelers are the 

 heaviest yoke of the team. 



