ON WORKING OXEN. 33 



ON WORKING OXEN. 



The Committee, — present Jedediah H. Barker, of Andover, 

 Seth Kimball, Bradford, Hiram L. Newhall, Lynnfield, Wil- 

 liam G. Brown, Ipswich, and Jervis Lamson, Hamilton, having 

 attended to their duty, would Report : that in performing it, it 

 is difficult to do justice to all, as so many oxen are to be tried, 

 and the time is so short for the examination. The load, used 

 for this purpose, was about two tons, exclusive of the wagon, 

 which for most of the cattle was not a heavy load, and there- 

 fore there was but little whipping. 



The rules of the society require that working oxen entered 

 for premium should be over four and under eight years of age. 

 When the question is asked by the Committee, how old are 

 your oxen, the answer is such as the driver sees fit to give, and 

 whether correct or not, it is for the committee to judge. In 

 one instance a pair of cattle were stated to be six years old, 

 when the committee were of opinion that they were nine or 

 ten. If the rule as to age is retained by the society, it is de- 

 sirable that some more certain mode should be prescribed for 

 determining it, such as the written certificate of the owner. 



The oxen exhibited this day were many of them of a good 

 size, looked very well, and performed their work well also, 

 while others were not well matched. 



The number of entries was twenty-six, fifteen pairs only 

 were on the ground for trial, as follows : 



One pair by Richard S. Bray, Newbury, aged five years. 

 " " Moses Pettingill, Topsfield, " six " 



" " Elijah Pope, Danvers, " five " 



" " Jonathan Berry, Middleton, " five " 



" " David S. Caldwell, Byfield, " five " 



" " William A. Lander, Danvers, '• seven " 



" " John Washburn, Lynn, " seven " 



'' " John Washburn, Lynn, " five " 



" '' Franklin Alley, Marblehead, " seven " 



" " William Foster, Andover, " five " 



" " Elias Clough, Lynn, " six " 



" " John Newhall, " " six " 



5 



