1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



53r 



From the proceedings of the Agricultural Society of Albemarle, 



Virginia. 



ON THE USE OF OXEN. 



Extract of a letter from Geors;e IF. Erving, esq., 

 late minister at the court of Madrid, to a ami- 

 miltee of the society^ dated at Paris, July loth, 

 1819. 



(Kea<1, May 81I1, 18-JO.) 



I noticed in the very interest inff address (of May, 

 1818,) to your society by Mr. Madison, a recom- 

 mendation to encourajre tiie nse of oxen in pre- 

 ference to horses, lor airricuitiiral labors. — As 

 oxen are very jjenerally used 111 tiie greater part 

 of" Spain, I was induced, by the president's obser- 

 vations, to examine, as tar as 1 could, into the es- 

 timates made in that country of the superiority oC 

 those animals, and in the course of my inciuiries 

 met with a small work containino; a great deal of 

 important matter, and some curious detail's and 

 calculations, fully justifying the preference which 

 ought to be given to them. I beg leave herewith 

 to offer it to you, persuaded that you will have 

 much satisfaction in the perusal of it, and that if 

 the society be disposed to adopt the ideas of the 

 president, you may very much promote the ob- 

 ject, by causing to be translated and laying before 

 it, if not the whole, the most interesting passages 

 of this little work, which as far as I can find, is 

 the only one of any merit on the subject which 

 has hitherto appeared. You will observe, that 

 the writer insists upon the still more general use 

 of oxen in Spain, as well as on the substitution of 

 horses for mules in those labors where oxen can- 

 not be so advantageously employed. 'Though a 

 great part oi' his argument is founded upon cir- 

 cumstances peculiar to Spain, and all his calcula- 

 tions will not therefore apply to all countries, ne- 

 vertheless there is much general reasoning which 

 is applicable to every country where agricultural 

 economy is studied ; and which, as appears to 

 rae, will tend very much to establish a preference 

 of horned cattle over horses and mules in the 

 United States. I say " horned cattle," because, 

 as you will notice, the cow in Spain bears her 

 proportion of the labors of the field, even during 

 the lime of her pregnancy. 



All that I have otherwise learnt from the most 

 intelligent persons in this matter, goes to confirm 

 the view taken of it by Mr. Madison. Oxen may 

 not only be kept in lull strength without grain, 

 but in Spain on straw principally ; perhaps the 

 straw there, has more saccharine juice in it than 

 ours. But may not our corn-stalks be a substitute 

 tor, or even a better nourishment than straw? 

 As to the tractability of the animal, the president 

 has fully answered the objections ordinarily pro- 

 duced, and it may be added that the ox. "when 

 once subdued, is always to be depended on, 

 whereas, the horse, when high fisd, or alter a long 

 repose, is likely to have accesses of disobedience. 

 That the ox may be used singly with a proper 

 harness, as the president says, is abundantly 

 proved in Castile, where nothing is so common, 

 as to see in the light lands a single ox or a cow be- 

 tween a pair of small shafts. The superior cele- 

 rity of the horse is amply compensated by the 

 other qualities of the ox ; this last ploughs more 

 steadily and deeper ; the horse's vivacity jerks 

 the plough out of the ground, and tor the vcrv 

 reason that he is lighter, he vacillates more in the 

 direction that he takes ; whereas, where the ox 

 Vol. V— 68 



plants his foot, his weiirht fixes him, and as his 

 logs are sliorf, and his head is always carried low 

 towards the ground, he cannot well deviate li'om 

 his riirht line. In this way he will plough a " iit- 

 nega" (somewhat less than our acre) per day ; 

 horses and mules will plough a fanega and a 

 hall, but not so deeply, or so well done. The ox 

 works in the field from dawn till the heat sets in, 

 about 11 or 12 ; he then rejjoses, eats, and rumin- 

 ates for three hours, alter which he works till 

 night-liill. Some persons give him two spells of 

 repose, but that is considered as a bad method. 

 For the field service, it is not necessary to shoe 

 him : on the road, his shoes last a long while, and 

 cost only about forty cents. 



Mr. Madison seems inclined to allow, that the 

 ox is less fit for the road service, than the horse or 

 mule. As to the disadvantage which belongs to 

 his movement, and to the Ibrm of his hoof, in a 

 frozen road, I suppose that the objections must be 

 considered as solid ; but in a sandy or muddy 

 road, (not frozen, J the broadness of his hoof, as 

 well as its cloven Ibrm, is a manifest advantage. 

 On the roads of Castile, which are dry and hard, 

 oxen will go with loaded wagons, a league in two 

 hours; horses go the same distance in an hour 

 and a half Their usual day's journey is Iroin 

 tour to five leaixues, when the weather is not too 

 hot; but though certainly the ox suffers more from 

 heat than the horse, yet, it is found in Spain that 

 this disadvantage is counter-balanced, by his ex- 

 emption from numerous disorders to which the 

 horse is subjected ; and perhaps the greater num- 

 ber of accidents to which he is exposed, ought 

 also to be taken into the account. 



Allow me to offer to you my best wishes for 

 the success of your patriotic institution, and as- 

 surances of the very great respect, with which 

 I am. 

 Gentlemen, your very ob't. servant, 



George W. Erving. 

 To J. A. Coles, i /I committee of t he Agri- 



Tho: M. Randolph, > cultural Society of yil- 

 P. Minor, esquires. ) . bemarle, in Virginia. 



From the Plough Bojr. 

 FLEMISH HUSBANDRY. 



To the Editor of the Plough Boy : 



Sir — Much has been said in praise of English 

 husbandry, yet it is a well known fact, that this 

 vaunted system is surpassed in many countries 

 which do not possess equal natural advantages. 

 In Scotland, agriculture has progressed at least 

 half a century beyond that of England, where 

 the soil and climate is far more congenial to the 

 productions of the earth than the " bleak moun- 

 i tains of Caledonia." But no where in the world 

 is the contrast so marked as that between the 

 Flcntsh "and English mode of cultivation. 



The average produce of a crop of wheat in 

 England, is lvventy-li.Tur bushels per acre. In 

 Flanders, it is thirty-two bushels. In England, 

 the system of fallows almost universally prevails. 

 In Flanders, it has been unknown from time im- 

 memorial ; two crops, in many cases three, being 

 uniformly raised annually upon the same field. 

 The llillowing comparative tables, as exhibited in 

 ' Vanderstraeten's Sketch of the Flemish Sys- 

 tem,' show cleaily and correctly its su[>erior atl- 

 vaniagee over that of England ; 



