vol,. XVI. NO. as. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



181 



horses. By smelting free from this consumption, 

 one half tlie labor, and of the wear of the hind, 

 would he saved, or rather more than one half; — 

 for on nio.<t farms one half of the corn crop grows 

 on not nuire than two fifths, and sometiiries a 

 smaller proportion, of the c-iillivate<l fields; and 

 the more fertile fields woidd of course he retained 

 for cultivation. Every one can figure to liimself, 

 the ease and convenience of a revolution which 

 would so much reduce the extent of his corn 

 fields; and sulistitute for tlie labor bestowed on 

 them, the more easy task of provi,ling jinsturage 

 and hay. But will not llie ox himself, when at 

 worii require grain food as well as the horse? — 

 Certainly much less, if any. Judging from my 

 own ol)servation, I should say, that a plenty of 

 good grass or good hay, will suffice without grain, 

 where the labor is neither constant nor severe. — 

 But 1 feel entire confidence in saying, that a dou- 

 ble set of oxen alternately at work, and therefore 

 half the time at rest, might be kept in good plight 

 with no other food than a plenty of gooil grass, or 

 good hay. 



"And as this double set would double the sup- 

 ply of beef, tallow and leather, a set-off is found 

 in that consideration, for a double consumiaion of 

 that kind of food. The objections generally made 

 to the ox are, 1. That he is less tradable than the 

 horse. 2. That he does not bear the heat so well. 

 3. That he does not answer for the single plough 

 used in our corn fields. 4. That he is slower in 

 his moveiuents. 5. That he is less fit for carry- 

 ing the produce of the farm to market. 



" The first objection is certainly founded in mis- 

 take. Of the two animals, the ox is the more do- 

 cile. !n all countries where the ox is the ordina- 

 ry draught animal, his docility is proverbial. His 

 intractability, where it exists, has arisen from an 

 occasional use of him, only with long and irregu- 

 lar intervals; during which the habit of discipline 

 being broken, a new one is to be formed. The 

 2d objection has as little foundation. The con- 

 stitution of the ox accommodates itself, as readily 

 as that of the horse, to diflTerent climates. Not 

 only in ancient Greece ami Italy, but throughout 

 Asia, as presented to us in ancient history, the ox 

 and the plough are associated. .At this day, in 

 the warm parts of India and China, the o.\, not 

 the horse, is in the draught service. In every part 

 of India, the ox always appears, even in the train 

 of her armies. And in the hottest parts of the 

 West Indies, the ox is employed in hauling weigh- 

 ty produce to the sea ports. The mistake here, 

 as in the former case, has arisen from tlie effect 

 of an occasional einployment only, with no other 

 >han green food. The fermentation of this in the 

 tiimal, heated by the weather, and fretted by the 

 iscipline, will readily account for his sinking un- 

 der his exertions ; when green food even, much 

 less dry, with a sober haliit of labor, woidd have 

 io such tendency. The 3d objection also is not 

 I solid one. The ox can, by a proper harness, 

 )e used singly as well as the horse, between the 

 rows of Indian corn ; and equally so used foroth- 

 sr purposes. Experience may safely be appealed 

 on this point. In the 4tb place, it is alleged 

 hat he is slow in his movements. This is true, 

 )iit often in a less degree, than is oflen taken for 

 'ranted. Oxen that are well chosen for their 

 brm, are not worked after the age of about eight 

 rears, (the age at which they are best fitted for 

 >eef,) are not worked too many together, and are 

 iiiitably matched, may be kept in nearly as quick 



a step as the horse. May I not say a step quick- 

 er than many of the horses we .see at work, who, 

 on account of their age, or the leanness, occasion- 

 ed by the costliness of the food they require, lose 

 tfiis advantage, where they might have once had 

 it? The last objection has most weight. The 

 ox is not as well ada|>ted as the horse to the road 

 service, especially for long trips. In cotiuiioti 

 roads, which are often soft, and sometimes suddenly 

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

 of his leg, are disadvantages ; and on roads, fro- 

 zen, 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 va- 

 rying state of the roads and the weather can be 

 consulted ; and where the road service is in less 

 proportion to the farm service, the objection is al- 

 most 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 the farm may be done fiy oxen, than is 

 now comirionly done ; and that the expense of 

 shoeing them, is little different from that of keep- 

 ing horses shod." 



Oxen are very extensively used hi some parts 

 of Great Britain — the farmers of that country hav- 

 ing found u great advantage resulting froin their 

 employment. A system has been adopted on ma- 

 ny of the large farms, hy which a certain nundier 

 are turned over to the grazier or the butcher ev- 

 ery year, and their places sup|)licd by an equal 

 number of suitable age. In many portions of our 

 own country, the prejudices existing against the 

 employment of oxen for form service is gradually 

 but surely giving way. The farmer who consults 

 Ills own interest, should, if he has not already 

 done so, make a fair m>d judicious trial, in order 

 to ascertain and satisfy himself as to the advanta- 

 ges resiiltina from the employment of the ox. If 

 he start right, we have no fears of the result. — 

 Nothing but an tmjiist prejudice has prevented 

 the general employment of oxen. 



Farmer's Cabinet. 



MANURE. 

 I am somewhat anxious concerning one branch 

 of agriclilturo, viz: The inanner of usingmanure. 

 By what I can learn, it is a common practice with 

 many farmers in our country, to haul out their 

 manure in the fall of the year on their grass ground, 

 and drop it in one or more large heaps, for the 

 purpose of moving it on to their broke up ground 

 in the spring, whether their ground be ploughed 

 in the fall or spring ; and many drop their manure 

 in small heaps on their sward ground, to spread 

 just before [iloughing the next spring. From rea- 

 son and exjierience, I am satisfied the better way 

 is to spread the manure on the grass ground in 

 the fall. 1 aim to move and spread my manure 

 early enough for the rains to wash tlie strength of 

 it into the groui}d, beftue the ground freezes up; 

 I generally spread it as fast as I haul it, but am 

 very careful to spread it h<'fore there comes a rain 

 on it. I am not so fearful of losing the strength 

 of tnanure in the air, as some of our agriculturists 

 profess Jo be, otherwise I might be tem|ited to 

 suppose that a considerable part of it was made 

 in vain. But 1 should say if any manure was 

 made in vain, it is that which people plough in 

 something like a foot deep, in its fidl strength. — 

 This method may be compaiable to a woman's 



making a kettle of hasty-pudding by boiling vva- 

 ter, then stirring in her nifal, then let it get cool, 

 and then stirring in a common portion of rock- 

 salt, or some might think it would suit them bet- 

 ter for her to hoist up her pudding and throw her 

 salt under it. Now I should not suppose this 

 fresh pudding wouhl be very ]>ahitalile, neither 

 should I Ihitdi that if one was to descend low 

 enoiigli to come at some of this good salt, that a 

 stately lump of it between his teeth would relish 

 any better. 



Now is not the fault in the cook ? The good 

 woman had every ingredient, but she should have 

 dissolved her salt in the water, then the pudding 

 woidd be seasoned, and would suit almost every 

 one's taste. Those farmers I first mentioned, if 

 their ground was ploughed in the fall, move their 

 large lieaps on to it, and s|iread and plough it in ; 

 and if the ground was not ploughed in the fall, 

 they w ill eitherspread it on the sward and plough 

 it in, or spread it on the furrows and plough again, 

 or else only harrow it, to their mortification, if 

 they do not conclude to bury it in the holes. 



Those who leave their manure in small heaps, 

 mean to get it deep enough at one ploughing, and 

 much stronger than if it had been spread in the 

 fall ; yet they have lost some of the strength by 

 evaporation. Now I can tell them how they may 

 recover their loss; let them spread the furrows 

 where the heaps laid, on the ground whe.''e they 

 (lid not lay, and they will have the good of the 

 evaporation the same season, and I guess that is 

 the chief they will have. Now I do not hold to 

 burying manure in its full strength, deep in the 

 earth, and if I have not given my reasons suffi- 

 ciently,. I will give some of them here. In the 

 first place,, it is obvious that manure in its natural 

 state, or full strength, produces nothing of conse- 

 quence. Secondly ; when buried in the ground 

 ten OP twelve inches, it will remain nearly in the 

 same state, unless washed, leached or drained. — 

 Thirdly ;: at such a dejith as it is often placed, it 

 must be a very great rain to convey more mois- 

 ture to it than it will retain. Fourthly; if it should 

 be drained, it will drain downward, and not up. 

 Fifthly; if the strength should all come out of it, 

 the roots of corn or any other vegetables would 

 receive but little nourishment from it, it being 

 deeper than the warmth of the sun will suitably 

 reach to render it fertile. Should any argue that 

 they shall have the good of this manure another 

 season ; I should say, it is a chance if some of it 

 is not out of their reach. My method is, after 

 spreading my manure in the fall, to plough my 

 ground in the spring, turning in the manure un- 

 der the furrows, which is worth but little to keep 

 the ground loose, and the furrows which are about 

 six or seven inches deep, being richest at the bot- 

 tom, will call down the loots of whatever is plant- 

 ed, deep enough to shield them from drought, and 

 not below the warmth of the sun. So that I es- 

 teem tny method at least as much preferable to 

 those before mentioned, as it would he, if I had a 

 sum of money on band, to let it out on interest 

 in good hands for a season, instead of burying it, 

 even if I must lose the \alue of one dollar in ten 

 by rust. Also, it is my opinion than an acre of 

 ground may be ploughed six inches deep, with 

 about two thirds the cost that it can be nine in- 

 ches deep, and manured with two thirds the ma- 

 nure, and produce as good a crop. 



A Common Farmer. 

 —jY. H. Patriot. 



