142 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



would rely as much upon the eye of an ox as upon 

 that of a man, in making his preference?. He 

 prefers oxen vvilh full bosoms, as indicative ol 

 Btrenglh. In choosing cattle to travel well, he 

 would have their toes straight forward. If they 

 are inclined outward in travelling, ihe strain will 

 come upon ihe inner claw, and they will become 

 foot-sore. If the toe is turned out, ihe leg will be 

 crooked, and turned in. A crooked stick will not 

 bear a weight so well as a straiixht one. He 

 would avoid lor travellers, oxen with long, pointed 

 feet, and especially an ox whose ankle is larger 

 ihan his foot. He would have the back slraight ; 

 if a little concave, not objectionable, but by no 

 means choose an ox wiih an arched back. For 

 the endurance ol" hardship, he would have their 

 ribs rounded and projecting; and not yo set in, that 

 when they run among the frees they wou'd strike 

 their hips. He much preli^rs the early trained 

 cattle to those which are late trained. This train- 

 ing cannot be begun too suon, only proportioning 

 the labor put upon them to their streniJth. The 

 Maine oxen Ibrmerly had the preference over all 

 -others, because they were put to the yoke when 

 «a!ves. Powers of labor or endurance depend 

 greatly upon exercise and exposure. A tree, 

 standing alone in a pasture, where it is beat abo'jt 

 by winds and storms, will be much more firmly 

 rooted than one grown in a forest, where it is 

 sheltered and protected by others. Take twin 

 brothers — bring up one behind the counter of an 

 English goods store, and put the other into a 

 blacksmith's shop, and the superiority of muscular 

 energy will not remain doubtlul. Very much de- 

 pends on the manner ol" usin^ oxen. They may 

 suffer much (rom severe hardships, like a tree tried 

 by a hurricane. 



He proceeded by remaikintjon llie general opi- 

 nion, in which he did not concur, that a high-li.'ed 

 horse could not be properly employed before oxen. 

 He would never, in breaking a horse to this labor, 

 tackle him in the afternoon. He would spend a 

 day in coaxing him, and never allow him, under 

 any circumstances, to be struck. When he be- 

 gan with tackling a colt, he would have a horse 

 in sight, towards whom he might be directed. He 

 would put him before oxen, but never with a load 

 that it would be difficult to draw; and in breakins 

 n colt, he would never try to drive him away from 

 home. 



Mr. Sheldon has since inlormcd us, that his 

 oxen at work in Boston, averaged nineteen miles 

 travel per day; and that he wished to have added 

 some remaiks on the shoeing of oxen, in which 

 he thinks great errors are committed. For travel- 

 ling on the road, the shoe of an ox is almost al- 

 ways made loo short. It should completely co- 

 ver the bottom of the heel. 



Mr. Jones of West-Tishiiry, being called on by 

 the chair, joined in the discussion. 



He deemed an agricultural life as highly pleas- 

 ant and respectable. The raising of stock, as a 

 branch of husbandry, had many attractions. He 

 had resided in the best agricultural districts of 

 England three years, and was familiar with their 

 operations. He had attended many of their cattle 

 shows. Much had been done in this country, but 

 from any thine accomplished here, little idea could 

 be formed of what had been efl'ected there. Eng- 

 land seems to have carried the art of breedim; to 

 a high degree of perfection. He considered that 



greater improvements had been made in sheep 

 than in cattle. Those of ue who have not seen 

 them, can form a very in)per(ect idea of the Eng- 

 lish flocks. He had seen large flocks of the 

 Leicesiers and the T'eeswaters, not one of which 

 would weigh less than 150 pounds. In some dis- 

 tricts, the long-woolled sheep are preferred. On 

 the Downs, the South J)ovvns, He had seen Mr. 

 Coke's flock, which at that time consisted of 6000. 

 In some districts, the sheep are all bred with yel- 

 low laces; in others, wiih black laces, which illus- 

 trates, the principles of breeding laid down by Mr. 

 Jaques. 



On our scanty soils the South Downs would 

 uiidouhiedly pay the most profit. We cannot 

 srow the long wools to advantage. Thai had 

 better be left to Pennsylvania and Delaware. We 

 demand much mutton for market. On this ac- 

 count the Houth Downs are to be prelisrred lor us. 

 The fine wools may be advantageously cultivated 

 where mutton is not in so much demand. 



We have now very good stocks (or animals if 

 we would be careful in the selection. The short 

 horns may answer for many districts in our coun- 

 try; but he believed the middling sized red cattle 

 were to be preferred f()r us. Our agriculture ia 

 not pursued upon a sufficiently liberal scale. We 

 do not employ sufficient capital. He expressed 

 his strong regret that any intention should have 

 been manilesied for Ihe discontinuance of the Ag- 

 ricultural Survey. He thought it had been emi- 

 nently serviceable, and great benefits were to be 

 expected from it. No measure could be adopted 

 more conducive to the improvement and welfare 

 of our agriculture. The agricultural Surveys in 

 England had been worth millions to that country; 

 and he thought it a niggardly policy and unwor- 

 thy of Massachusetts to hesitate about a few 

 thousands for the advancement of this great and 

 common interest. It was matter of great regret 

 to him that any thoughts should be entertained of 

 discontinuing the survey, which had already re- 

 ceived the most favorable notices abroad. The 

 English Agriculture was more improved than any 

 other, and the great impulse to improvement was 

 ffiven by the eminent labors of Arthur Young in 

 his agricultural tours. He hoped that, in addition 

 to the completion of the Agricultural Survey, the 

 Stale, in the course of five years would have es- 

 tablished a Board of Agriculture. 



Mr. Putnam made some inquiries of Mr. 

 Jaques on the point whether butter is as good ob- 

 tained from large quantities as small quantities of 

 milk, as on his father's larm, in Ihe care of 2 cowp, 

 one giving 47 or 48 pounds milk per day, and one 

 35 pounds iriilk per day in Jur)e, and making each 

 about thirteen poundsof butter per week, the quali- 

 ty of the butter from the cow giving the largest 

 quantity was superior to that from the other. 



Mr. jaques was unable to give a definite an- 

 ew er in this particular case, fie spoke again of 

 the importance of blood and preserving races pure. 

 Our cattle had been much corrupted by intermix- 

 tures. With a view to lest his principles he had 

 entered iarirely into the breeding of rabbits; and 

 it had required the ninth generation and four hun- 

 dred rabbiis to reach the point at which he aimed. 

 Excellent stock were often exhibited at Brighton, 

 but a valuable race could not be obtained without 

 much pains. It would require half a century in 

 some cases to transfer the vigor of conBtitulion of 



