1837] 



F A R M E R S' REGISTER. 



421 



Not only in ancient Greece and Italy, but through- 

 out Ay:ia, as presenteil to us in ancient liistory, 

 the ox ami the plouirli are nspociaied. At this 

 day. in the vvarni pans of India and Cliina, the ox 

 not t!ie liorse is in the drau<rht service. In every 

 part ol'lndia, the ox always appears, even in the 

 tntin of her armies. And in the hottest parts of 

 the West Indies, the ox, is employed in haulina; 

 the weiirhty produce to the sea-ports. The mis- 

 take here, as in the Ibrmer case, has arisen from 

 the effect of an occasional employment oidy, with 

 no otlier than green tood. Tiie lermentation of 

 this in the animal lieated by the weather, and 

 fretted by the discipline, will readily account for 

 his sinking under his exertions, -when green food 

 even, much less dry, with a sober habit of labor, 

 would have no such tendency. 



The third objection also, is not a solid one. 

 The ox can, by a proper harness, be used singly 

 Hs well as the horse, between the rows of In- 

 dian corn ; and equally so used for other purpo- 

 ses. Experience may be safely appealed to, on 

 this point. 



In the fourth place, it isalledged that he is slow 

 er in his movements. This is true; but in a less 

 degree than is oflen taken for granted. Oxen that 

 are well chosen for theirform, are not worked after 

 the age of about eight years, (the age at which 

 they are best fitted for beef,) are not worked too 

 many together and are suitably matched, may he 

 kept to nearly as quick a step as the horse. May 

 I not say, a step quicker than that of many of the 

 horses we see at work, who on account of their 

 age, or the leanness occasioned by the costliness 

 of the food they re()uire, loose the advantage 

 where they might have once had it? 



The last objection has most weight. The ox is 

 not as well adapted as the horse to the road ser- 

 vice, especially ibr long trips. In common roads, 

 which are often soft, and sometimes suddenly be- 

 come so, the form of his foot, and the shortness of 

 his leg, are disadvantages; and on roads frozen or 

 turnpiked, the roughness of the surface in the 

 former case, and its hardness in both cases, are 

 inconvenient to his cloven hoof. But where the 

 distance, to market is not great, where the vary- 

 ing state of the roads and of the weather can be 

 consulted; and where the road service is in less 

 proportion to the farm service, the objection is 

 almost deprived of its weight. In cases where it 

 most applies, its weight is diminished by the con- 

 sideration that a much greater proportion, of ser- 

 vice on a farm may be done by oxen, than is now 

 commonly done; and that the expense of shoeing 

 them, is little different fiom that of keeping hou- 

 ses shod. It is observable, that wfien oxen are 

 worked on the farm, over rough .frozen ground, 

 they suffer so much li'om the want of shoe's how- 

 ever well ted they may be, that it is a proper sub- 

 ject for calculation, whether true economy does 

 not require lor them, that accomodation, even on 

 the farm, as well as for the horses. 



A more important calculation is, whether in ma- 

 ny situations, the general saving by substitu- 

 ting the ox lor the horse, would not balance the 

 expense of hiring a carriage of the produce to 

 market. In the same scale with the hire, is to be 

 put the value of the grass and hay consumed by 

 the oxen; and in the other scale, the value of the 

 corn, amounting to one halfof the crop, and of the 

 grass and hay consumed by the horses*. Wheie 



the market is not distant, the value of the com 

 savtul. would certainly pay lor the carriage of (he 

 market portion ol' the crop, and balance, moreover 

 any dilierence between the value of the grass and 

 hay consumed by oxen, and value ol the oxen 

 when slaughtered for beef In all these calcula- 

 tions, it is doubtless proper not to lose sight of the 

 rule, that liirmers ought to avoid paying others for 

 doing what they can do for themselves. Eut the 

 rule fias its exceptions: and the error, if it be com- 

 mitted, will not lie in departing from the rule, but 

 in not selecting aright the cases which call for the 

 departure. It may be remarked, that the rule 

 ought to be more or less general as there may, or 

 may not be at hand, a market by which every 

 produce of labor is convertible into money. In 

 the old countries, this is much more the case than 

 in new, and in new, much more the case near 

 towns, than at a distance from them. In this, as in 

 most other parts of our country, a change of circum- 

 stances is taking place which renders every thmg 

 raised on a farm more convertible into money than 

 formerly; and as the change proceeds, it will be 

 more and more a point for consideration, liow far 

 the labor in doing w,hat might be bought, could 

 earn more in another way, than the amount of 

 the purchase. Still it will always be prudent for 

 reasons which every experienced farmer will un- 

 derstand, to lean to the side of doing, rather than 

 hiring or buying what may be wanted. 



The mule seems to be in point of economy, be- 

 tween the ox and the horse, preferable to the lat- 

 ter, inferior to the former, but so well adapted to 

 particular services that he may find a proper place 

 on many farms. He is liable to the objection 

 which weighs most against the ox. He is less 

 fitted than the horse for road service. 



VI. A more manifest error in the husbandry of 

 the older settlements, is that of keeping too many 

 neat cattle on the farms. As alarm should not 

 be cultivated farther than it can be continued in 

 good heart, the stock of cattle should not be in 

 irreater number than the resources of food will 

 keep in good plight. If a poor liirm be unprofita- 

 ble, so are poor cattle. It is particlarly the case 

 with the milch cows. When the whole of the 

 food given them is necessary to support a lean ex- 

 istence, no part can be spared tor the milk pail. 

 The same food, given to the proper nuud)er, will 

 not only keep them in a thrifty state, but enable 

 them to supply the dairy. Even the manure from 

 several poor cattle is worth less than that from a 

 single fat one. The remark holds equally good 

 with respect to the hide. 



The misjudged practice in question, is another 

 effect of inattention to the change of circumstan- 

 ces through which our country has passed. Ori- 

 ginally, the forest abounded in rich herbage which 

 fed and fatted, without expense, all the cattle 

 that could be brought through the winter into 

 the spring. It was natural, at that time, to keep 

 as large a stock as could be preserved through the 

 winter. For a long time past, the forest is scarce- 

 ly any where, a resource for more than two or 

 three months, and in many places, no resource at 

 all. A greater difficulty is often felt in finding 

 summer, than winter subsistence. And yet, where 

 no inclosed pasturage is provided to take the place 

 of the extinct one in the Igrest, the habit, founded 

 in reasons which have enlii'ely ceased, is buf too 

 generally retained. The same number oi cattle 



