388 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Jane SO, 1832. 



Rural Economy 



ON TRAINING OXEN. 



Mr Smith — In the 1st No. of the 14th volume 

 of the Aiuericaii Farmer, I see some remarks on 

 the manner of " training cuttle," and some inqui- 

 ries respecting the best mode of doing it. I am 

 pleased with your correspondent's ideas on this 

 sul)ject. I have recently learned a mode of break- 

 ing steers to the yoke, which seems to me so re- 

 markably reasonable, so humane, and so well cal- 

 culated to aid in effecting the object, that I take 

 the liberty of offering it to you, that if yon think 

 it of sufficient interest you may communicate it. 

 [ would remark, that the training of steers to the 

 yoke is not the work of an hour or a day. Before 

 they work well, work must be made something of 

 a habit with them. I think, however, they are the 

 most docile of working animals, and if our efforts 

 to subject them are directed by reason, they are 

 more certainly successful than with the horse or 

 the mule ; and further, that they are more perfect- 

 ly subjected to our control and manifest more in- 

 telligence in understanding our commands, than 

 even the horse. This control over them is not 

 obtained by cruelty or abuse, by whipping and 

 beating, but by kind and generous treatment. 



The mode of breaking alluded to, is as follows : 

 On a stump or substantial post, fasten a pole with 

 a pin, in such manner the i)ole will turn round 

 as on a pivot. The pole may be some twenty 

 feet loug, and ought to be from the ground the 

 height of the yoke when on the steer; fix the end 

 of the pole similar to the end of a yoke, and then 

 yoke the steer in it. By reversing the position of 

 the steers, one may be yoked at e.tch end of the 

 pole at the same time. They will soon get so as 

 to travel round the post or stump together. If it 

 is feared the steer may injure himself by twisting 

 round the end of the pole, this may easily be pre- 

 vented by mortising in a small bar at the end of 

 the pole. After they are yoked in the pole, let 

 them remain a day or two, troubling them no far- 

 ther than to feed them. After they have ceased 

 to make efforts to extricate themselves from the 

 pole, and will travel round quietly with it, yoke 

 them together, and tliere will be no diflicully in 

 using them behind a well-trained yoke of oxen. 

 While yoked to the pole, it is well to familiarize 

 them by rubbing and handling them, that they 

 may learn to be approached without the fear of 

 being injured. 



In breaking cattle to the yoke, the first requisite 

 is, to impress them with the conviction that they 

 are perfectly subjected to our control, and that all 

 their efforts to extricate themselves from it are un- 

 availing. What is to be avoided particidarly, is 

 to prevent them from learning to " turn the yoke," 

 from becoming sullen and lying down, and from 

 the habit of running away. Now it does appear 

 to me, that the above mode of first handling them, 

 is eminently calculated to prevent them from ac- 

 quiring either of the above vices. It is further 

 recommended in this, that they are habituated to 

 confiuement without the possibility of injuring 

 themselves, and all the necessity of whipping and 

 beating them in the first handling, is entirely super- 

 seded. One thing to be especially avoided with 

 young cattle, is, not upon any consideration to 

 overtask them. 



I would request anyone who makes a fair test 

 of the above mode, to cominunicate the result. A 

 very great aid in breaking young steers, is, iu the 

 first instance, simply to catch and tie them to a 

 tree and let them remain tied for a day or two. 

 By either of the above modes, and jiidicioLis hand- 

 ling after being taken in hand, so far as my ob- 

 servation goes, steers that have been little hanilled 

 and are comparatively wild, are broke sooner and 

 with greater facility than those which have been 

 petted and are tame. 



Should the above be the means of preventing a 

 single scene of inhuman beating of young steers, 

 for turning themselves in the yoke, or of beating 

 them when they get sullen and lie down, or of 

 twisting their tails to make them get up, it will be 

 ample com[)ensation for the trouble of one who 

 subscribes himself 



A FRIEND AND ADMIRER OF GOOD OXEN. 



several such persons in my life, and I do not hesi- 

 tate to say, that any person who so manages his 

 teams, will get more labor at less expense and with 

 more ease to himself, thau by the ordinary bawl- 

 ing, whipping method, so much practised in our 

 country. All the difl'erence with these people is, 

 that the one understands and studies the nature 

 and disposition of his animals, and the other does 

 not. " An even temper and a steady hand," ought 

 to be the teamster's motto, the world over. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



TRAINING CATTLE. 



I was much pleased with an article in your last 

 paper, taken from the New England Farmer, on 

 training cattle. The frequent abuse of our labor- 

 ing animals, by those who receive the benefits of 

 their labors and who ought in return to treat them 

 mercifully, has often given me great pain. In- 

 deed, it is a matter to me perfectly surprising, how 

 any intelligent being can so wantonly and unthink- 

 ingly abuse dumb animals, as many are inthe daily 

 habit of doing. I venture to say, from my own 

 observation, (and that has not been limited in this 

 |)articular,) that nine tenths of the perverseness of 

 laboring animals, arises from the mismanagement, 

 at some period or other, of those who train or use 

 them. It appears to me, the rules of management 

 in all these cases are extremely simple. You have 

 only to study the natural disposition and history 

 of the animals, to know how to manage them. 

 By your own feelings, you can easily perceive that 

 they can have but little heart or disposition to labor 

 if scantily fed ; of course, good feed is the first step 

 in obtaining good labor. The next is to have your 

 teams properly trained, so as to know you and also 

 to be fond of you, and to love the sound of your 

 voice, for animals are capable of much affection. 

 I have known numerous instances of the kind, and 

 in all cases with which I have been familiar, those 

 who treated their cattle or horses with kindness, 

 always obtained from them the most work, and 

 that too in the easiest way. 



1 have employed, in the course of my business, 

 a great many men and teams, both with oxen and 

 horses, and I never yet knew a bawling, noisy, 

 whipping teamster, who did a great day's work ; 

 nor have I scarcely known such a one who kept a 

 fat team. The best man who ever did me any la- 

 bor was a good sidjstantial farmer ; his oxen were 

 always fiit, and spry as colls; he would never 

 hitch them to anything which he knew they coul 

 not draw, of course they were not discouraged ' 

 and he hardly ever jpoke louder to his oxen than 

 in a low tone of common conversation. He would 

 frequently talk to them soothingly, and encourage 

 them when he had a hard job on hand, which 

 was often the case. After making a heavy |nill. 

 he would sometimes pat them on the back, but I 

 rarely ever knew him to strike or worry his team. 

 He carried a slender goad with a short lash, to 

 guide them with, and a mere swing of the whip 

 was sufficient for his purposes. I have known 



From the Pta\idence Daily Journal. 



PRICES OF WOOL. 



The following statement exhibits the compara- 

 tive average prices of wool (imported the last year) 

 at the present rate of duty, and at twenty per cent, 

 as proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 



Imported from 



Netherlands, 



England, 



British American Colonies, 



Hanse Towns, 



Hayti, 



Spanish Atlantic ports, 



Portugal, 



Trieste and Adriatic ports, 



Smyrna, 



Brazil, 



Argentine Republic, 



South America, 



Africa, 



Mexico, 



'^S'^; 



■= "3 



By the foregoing bill, all wool unmanufactured, 

 the value whereof, at the place of export, does no/ 

 exceed ten cents per pound, will pay five per cent 

 ad valorem ; when the value exceeds ten cents per 

 pound, it will pay twenty per cent ad valorem. 



By the present tariff, wool of the same descrip- 

 tion |>ays four cents per pound, and fifty per cent 

 on the cost on board. Henry Bowen, Sec'y. 



By the above statement, exhibited by the Sec- 

 retary of the Treasury, it will be seen that ibe 

 prices of wool will be reduced as follows: — 



On wool from the Netherlands the price willb« 

 reduced 17J- cents per pound. 



On wool from England the price will be reduc- 

 ed IG^ cents |)er pound. 



On wool from British American Colonies, 9^ 

 cents per pound. 



On wool from the Hanse Towns, 17 cents per 

 pound, &c. 



And it will be further seen, by the same esti- 

 mate, that of the fourteen descriptions enunjerated 

 by the Secretary of the Treasury, the average 

 price in this country, according to his estimate, 

 will be 19i cents per pound. 



Experiments are making in Alabama, Florida, 

 iSrc, to introduce the cultivation of the olive. Now 

 that much more oil than usual is required, and the 

 price is extremely high, seems an excellent tima 

 to press this cultivation. 



