352 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



on level land, and exercise them there. Then I 

 teach them to back a cart up land that is a lit- 

 tle risin,'^, the cart having no load in, as yet. 

 When I have taught them to stand up to the 

 tongue as they ought, and back an empty cart, I 

 Hext either put a small load in the cart, or take 

 them to where the land rises faster, which an- 

 swers the same purpose ; thus in a few days they 

 can be taught to back well, and know how to do 

 it, which, by a little use afterward, they will 

 never forget. This may appear of little conse- 

 quence to some, but when it is remembered how 

 frequently we want to back a load, when we are 

 at work with our cattle, and how convenient it is 

 to have our cattle back well, why should we not 

 teach them for the time when we want them thus 

 to lay out their strength? Besides, it often 

 saves blows and vexations, which is considerable 

 when one is in a hurry. I never consider a pair 

 of oxen well broke until they will back with ease 

 any reasonable load, and I would give a very 

 considerable sum more for a yoke of oxen thus 

 tutored thanJor a yoke not thus trained. 



MANAGING AND FEEDING WORKING OXEN. 



The following is from the Yankee Farmer. 

 Oxen working on a stone-drag, on the foot of a 

 plow, on the sled-tongue, cart spire, or twitching 

 stones or timber, should carry their heads well 

 up, as this will enable them to do this work much 

 easier ; those that work as leaders, forward of 

 other oxen, should carry their heads low, and 

 have the yoke the right length, let the bows suit 

 the neck ; the yoke and bows to the leaders 

 should set a little snugger than to the nib oxen. 

 Never use the whip but from necessity. When 

 about to strike the young steer or ox, ask your- 

 self, "Will he know what I strike him for ?" Let 

 each ox have a name, and be sure he knows his 

 name. Never speak a word to an ox without 

 meaning; have a particular word to start your 

 team by, that all may pull together. Never hurry 

 your oxen while riding behind them, lest they 

 learn to haul apart. Oxen should be shod with 

 a broad shoe, to travel on hard roads ; the shoe 

 on the fore foot, should set back at the heel, 

 nearly half an inch further than the hoof bears 

 upon it. Oxen are frequently lame by reason of 

 short shoes. The best feed for oxen at hard 

 work, is to give to each two quarts of meal, wet, 

 mixed with good chopped hay, three times a day, 

 and as much hay as he will eat ; this is the high- 

 est feed working oxen ought to have, and on this 

 they W'ill work every day. 



SIZE OF VVORKIN'G OXEN. 



to do it. I accordingly purchased a large pair of 

 Durham cattle which weighed thirty-six hundred 

 pounds, paid a great price for them, and put them 

 at work, and a more miserable yoke of oxen I 

 never owned. If they did a day's work, it took, 

 them three to get over it. I then purchased a 

 pair of medium size, which weighed about twen- 

 ty-six hundred pounds ; they proved well, went 

 through the job in good shape, and were ready 

 for another. 



As to the particular breeds of cattle for work, 

 I know of none better than our native race. The 

 Devons make very pretty workers, but as far as 

 my experience goes, they are generally a little 

 too high-strung. The Durhams, on the contrary, 

 I believe to be rather slow of motion as a gener- 

 al thing, and want high keeping. The Ayrshire, 

 Hereford, and various other breeds, I am not a* 

 all conversant with. 



MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY. 

 The attention of the reader is called to an ar- 

 ticle in another column, by Judge French, upon 

 the "Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agri- 

 culture," in which he glances at the operations 

 and influences of the society, since its founda- 

 tion. The Judge has our thanks for this timely 

 and just notice of a society whose life has been 

 crowded with good deeds. We have personal ac- 

 quaintance with very few of its members, and 

 speak of it entirely from what we know of its 

 works. Its published Transactions we have read 

 from their commencement, with care, and have 

 been instructed by them, and whenever the soci- 

 ety has been assailed, have said whatever we 

 could to make its past action and its objects bet- 

 ter understood. We hope it will keep on its ac- 

 customed course, form "no entangling alliance" 

 with other associations, and continue to promote 

 the interests of agriculture in the future as much 

 as it has promoted them in the past. 



A word as to the particular size of working 

 oxen. A yoke of oxen weighing twenty-eight 

 hundred pounds, I consider heavy enough for all [read by every farmer who has an acre of land to 



Farm Dr.ainage. — The above work, a hand- 

 some volume of 400 pages, will be sent post-paid, 

 to any subscriber to the .V. E. Farmer v/ho will 

 send $1,00 to this office by mail or otherwise. 

 The author is Judge French, our well-known 

 Associate, and the book gives practical direc- 

 tions for draining land with stones, wood and 

 tiles, in the cheapest and best manner, with 100 

 engravings of implements, &c. It should be 



practical purposes. It depends something on 

 what a person wants to use them for, but for 

 travelling on the road, or for most any part of 

 farm labor, cattle of this size are heavy enough. 

 There is a prevailing opinion among farmers who 

 use oxen, that they must have a very large, heavy 

 pair, in order to get along well ; but as a general 

 thing, large, heavy cattle are very apt to be slow 

 of motion, and much more liable to be lame, be 

 sides more expensive in keeping 



drain. 



Profitable Sheep. — I will give you a state- 

 ment of a little flock of sheep that I have raised 

 in two years. I bought three ewes, two years 

 ago this spring — two of them had four ewe 

 lambs ; and last year six of them had eight ewe 

 lambs, making in all fifteen ewes ; they have never 



had a buck lamb. I consider it a pretty good 

 Two or three jincrease. I had .$14 for the first purchase, and 

 years ago. I had a heavy job of work on hand, I the wool has about paid for keep, and I have just 

 and thought I must have a heavy yoke of oxen I sold the flock for $15.— Country Oenileman. 



