ON THE HORSE AND OX. 



Hy rrpsid. m Madison. 



I cannot Init coiisidei- it as an cnor in our hns- 

 bandry, tliat o\cn are too littlt) used in place of 

 horses. 



Every fiir compari.soji of t!ie ex|)ense of the 

 two animals, ("avors a iircfcrencn of the ox. Bnt, 

 the circnmstance parliciilaily recomincnuing him, 

 is that he can hi; snpporteil wlien at work, by 

 grass and liay : while the Iiorse requires grain, and 

 iniich of it, and the grain generally given him is 

 Indian corn, the crop which rocpiires mort labor, 

 and greatly exhan?ts the land. 



From the best estimate 1 have been enabled to 

 form, more than one half of the corji crop is con- 

 sumed by horses, including the ungrown ones ; 

 and not le.ss than ono half, by other than pleasure 

 horses. By getting free from ,lhis consumption, 

 one halfof tNe labor and of the wear of the land 

 woiikl be saved, or rather more than one half. For 

 on most farms, one halfof the cmp of corn grows 

 on not more than two filths, and sometimes a small- 

 er ])roportion of the cultivated fields ; and the 

 more fertile fielils would of course be retained for 

 cultivation. Every one can figure to hiniself the 

 case and conveniency of a revolution, which 

 would so much reduce the e.\tent of his corn- 

 fields : and substitute for the labor bestowed on 

 them, the more easy task of providing pasturage 

 and hay. 



Cut will not the ox himself, when kept at labor, 

 require grain food as well as the Iiorse ? Certainly 

 much less, if any. Judging from my own obser- 

 vation I shoald say, that aj)lenty of good grass 

 or good hay, will suffice without grain, where the 

 labor is neither constant nor severe. liut I feel 

 entire confidenco in saiing, that a double set of 

 oxen altornately at jt^U, and therefore half the 

 time at rest, might be Uejit in good plight with- 

 out other food than a plenty of good grass or good 

 hay. And as this .double set vinuM double the 

 supply of beef, tallow and leatlier, a set off is f )mid 

 in that consideration for a double consumi)tion of 

 that kinil of food. 



The objections generally made to the ox, are, 

 viz: 1. That he is less tradable than the horse. 

 2. That he does not bear heat as well. 3. That 

 he does not answer fur the single plough used in 

 our cornfields. 4. That ho is slower in his move- 

 ments. 5. That lie is less fit for carrying the 

 produce of the farm to market. 



The first objection is ccrtaiidy founded in mis- 

 take. Of the two animals, the ox is the most 

 docile. In all countries where the ox is the or 

 dinary draught animal, his docility is jirover- 

 bial. His intractability, where it exists, has arisen 

 from an occasional use of iiitu only wiih long and 

 irregular intervals ; during wbirli, the habit ofdis- 

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

 The second objection has but as little founda- 

 tion. The constitution of the ox accommodates 

 itself, as readily as that of the horse, to difl^erent 

 climates. — Not only in ancient Greece and Italy, 

 but throughout Asia, as presented to us in ancient 

 history, the ox and the iilongh are associated. .-\t 

 this day, in the warm (larts of India and China, 

 the ox, not the horse, is in the draught service. In 

 every part of India, the ox always apjicared, even 

 in the train of her armies. And in the hottest 

 parts of the West Indies, the ox is employed in 

 hauling the weighty produce to the sea ports. 

 The mistake here, as in the former case, has arisen 

 from the effects of occasional employment only, 



NEW E_NGLAND FARMER, 



will] no other than green food. The fermentation 

 of this in the animal heated by the weather, and 

 fretted by discipline, will readily account fi>r his 

 sinking under his exertion ; when green food even, 

 nuich less dry, with a sober habit of labor, would 

 have no such tendency. 



The third objection also, is not a solid one. The 

 ox can, by a proper harness, be used singly as 

 \s the horse, between the rows of Indian 

 corn : and equally so used for other purposes. 

 Experience may he safely appealed to on this point. 

 In the fourth place, it is alleged that he is slow- 

 er in his movements. This is true ; but in a less 

 degree than is often taken for granted. Oxen 

 that are well chosen for their form, are not work- 

 ed after the age of about eight years, (the age at 

 which tli,ey are best fitted for beef,) are not work- 

 ed too many together, and are suitably matched, 

 may be kept to nearly as quick a step as the horse. 

 May I not say, a step quicker tliau that of many 

 horses we see at work, who, on account of their 

 age or the leanness occasioned by the costliness 

 of the food they require, lose the advantage where 

 they might have once had it ! 



The last objection has most weight. The ox 

 not so well adapted ah the Iiorse to the road 

 service, especially for long trips. In common 

 roads, which are often soft, and sometiiiu's sud- 

 denly become so, the form of bis foot and the 

 shortness of his les, are disadvantages ; and on 

 roads frozen or tnruplkcd, the roui;hnei<s of the 

 surface in t!io former case, aiul its harshness in 

 Iioth cases, are inconvenient to bis cloven hoof. 

 But where the ilistance to market is not great, 

 where the varying ptate of the roads and of the 

 weather, can be consulted ; and where the road 

 service is in less proportion to the fiirin service, 

 the objection is almost deprived of its weight. In 

 cases whi.'re it most applies, its weight is dimin- 

 ished by the consideration, that a much greater 

 proportion of service on the farm may be done by 

 o.xen, than is now commonly done ; and that the 

 expense of shoeing ihinn, is little different from 

 that of keeping horses shod. It is observable, 

 that when oxen are worked on a farm, over rough 

 frozen ground, they suffer so much from ihe want 

 ofshoes, however well fed they may be, that it is 

 a proper subject for calculation, whether true econ- 

 omy does not require for them that acommoda- 

 tion, even or. the farm, as well as for the horse. 



A more important calculation is — whether in 

 many situations, the gener.al saving by substitu- 

 ting the ox for the horse would not balance the 

 expense of hiring the carriage of the produce to 

 market. In the same scale with the hire, is to be 

 put the vahn of the grass and hay consumed by 

 the oxen ; and in the other scale, the value of the 

 corn, amounting to one half of the crop, and of 

 the grass and hay consumed by the horses. Whore 

 the nnirket is not distant, the value of the corn 

 wouhl certainly p.ay for the carriage of the market 

 poition of the crop, and balance moreover, any 

 difference between the value of the grass and 

 hay consumed by oxen, and the value of the oxen 

 when slaughtered for beef. In all these calcula- 

 tions, it is doubtless pro|icr not to lose sight of the 

 rule, that farmers ought to avoid paying others foi 

 doing what they can do for themselves. But the 

 rule has its exceptions : and the error, if it bi 

 committed, will lie not in departing from the rule, 

 but in not selectuig aright the cases which call fo- 

 the departure. It may be remarked, that tin 

 rule ought to be more or less general, as there ma^ 



July 20, 1831. 



be, or may not be at baud, a market by which 

 every produce of labor is convertilde into money. 

 In the old countries, this is much more the case 

 than in new ; and in new, much more the case 

 near towns, than at a distance from them. In 

 this as in most other i)arts of our country, a chano'e 

 of circumstances is taking place, which renders 

 everything raised on a farm more coiwertilile into 

 money than formerly ; and as the change pro- 

 ceeds, it will be more and more a point for con- 

 sideration, how far the labor in doing what might 

 be bought, could earn more in another way, thuii 

 the amount of the |iurcliase. Still it will always 

 be priuhut, for reasons which every experienced 

 farmer will umiersland, to lean to the side of doin;j 

 rather than hiring or buying what may be wanted. 

 The mule seems to lie in ])oint of tconomy, be- 

 tween the ox and the horse, preferable to the, latter, 

 ami inferior to the former ; but so well adapted to 

 particular services, that he may find a proper 

 place on many farms. He is liable to the objec- 

 tion which weighs itiost against the ox. Ho is 

 less fitted than the horse for road service. 



Fecdins; Callle. — ' In young growing animals the 

 powers of digestion are so great, that they require 

 food which is less rich, than such as are of mature 

 age. Tlicy also require more exercise. If rich food 

 is supplied in liberal quantities, ami exercise with- 

 held, diseases are generated, the first of which may 

 be excessive fatness : growth is impeded by very rich 

 food, for experience shows, that the coarsest fed ani- 

 mals have the largest bones. Common sense will 

 suggest the projiriety of preferring a medium 

 course between very rich and very poor nutriment.' 

 — Loudon. 



Regularity of feeding cattle is of prime impor- 

 tance. Three times u day, precisely at a certain 

 hour, cattle, according to I\lr Lawrence, shoidd be 

 furnished with their Ibod. Mr Deaiie ol)served, 

 that neat cattle and horses should not have so much 

 laid beforo them at once as will quite serve to fill 

 them. The hay they have breaihed on much they 

 will not eat up dean, unless they are very hungry. 

 It is best, therefore, to fodder them twice at night, 

 and twice in the morning. Let neat cattle as well 

 as horses have both light and fresh air let in upon 

 their liidder when the weather is not too cold and 

 siurmy to allow the windows to be open. Wha: 

 Olio sort of cattle have should be thrown to another 

 sort. Those that chew the cuil will eat the leav- 

 ings of those that do luit, and vice versu. 



Sialics. — Young horses generally are accustom- 

 ed to live and breathe in a pure and open air till 

 they c<unc of age, and are fit for labor ; it is then 

 found convenient to house them; this produces a 

 considerable change in their, bodies, and makes 

 iliem liable to be greatly affected by the tempera- 

 ture of the air which surrounds them, and in which 

 they breathe. 



That stables are generally kept too close and 

 hot, requires no demonstration, as every one who 

 goes into tliom, even when the v/caiher is pretty 

 cool, must have discovered this from their own 

 feelinjrs ; and in the summer season the heat 

 within them is increased to a very great degree. 

 What renders it still worse, it frequently hajipeiiFs 

 that from the situation and structure of many sta- 

 bles, no opening can be made to allow a suSicient 

 quantity of fresh air, so as to enable horses confin- ' 

 ed in them to breathe with any tolerable degree 

 of freedom. The door is the entrance for air, and 

 that can only happen occasionally when it js open. 



