724 Live Stock. Teams Neceffary Proportion of on different Farms. 



There is another point in refpecl to teams which it is extremely difficult to af- 

 ccrtain, though it is of great importance to the farmer, which is the proportion of 

 horfes or other animals that are requifite to the extent of land. It is plain that 

 the nature and fituation of the farm, and the method of - h u {band ry. that is pram fed, 

 muft have great influence in regulating the number of horfes or oxen that will be 

 neceffary in its cultivation. It has been obfcrvcd that one team, on a gravelly, 

 iandy,or oth?r light dcfcription of foil, will be capable of performing more labour, 

 or of cultivating a greater proportion of land in a given time, than two on foils of 

 the clayey kind, where the various operations are greatly retarded by their ftiffnefs 

 and adhefion. And that where the fituation of the farm is hilly and uneven, a 

 greater frrength and extent of team will be requifite than in the contrary circum- 

 ftances, in order to anfwer the purpofes of tillage. Where, from the nature or 

 locality of the farm, much road-work is to be performed to a diftance^ a more pow 

 erful and fuller team will be wanted than in other cafes. The proportion of the 

 grafs or feeding land to that of the tillage is likewife to be confidered, in determin 

 ing the number of labouring cattle for the farm, as, where the extent of the for^. 

 mcr is confiderable, there will be lefs work to be performed, and of courfe one team 

 may be fufficient where two would otherwifc have been required.* 



On hay and dairy-farms the teams are generally fmall, as they require little 

 more than the conveying their different produces to the markets, and the carting of 

 manure, or fuch other materials as may be neceffary in the management of the 

 farms : but as the culture of different forts of green crops is neceffary to the per- 

 fedl and moft economical management of the latter, a fomewhat larger team will, 

 in general, be required. In moft cafes, from three to four horfes will be fufficienc 

 on fuch farms, for from one to two hundred acres, or even more. 



But on perfectly arable farms, efpecially where the old fallow method of huf- 

 bandry is praclifed on one third or fourth part annually, or on fuch as are cultivat 

 ed under the convertible fyftem, a much greater extent of team will be required. 

 In the latter cafe, however, and in the former alfo, where the improved method of 

 fubftituting green crops for fallows is purfued, confiderable reduction in the number 

 of animals thatconftitute the teams may be made. In the eaftern diftricts, it has 

 been common to employ four horfes on farms that contain only forty acres of til 

 lage-land with a fuitable proportion of grafs. And with feventy or eighty acres 



* Synopfis of Husbandry. 



