546 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



tion, it may be said that there are breeds of sheep 

 so docile and quiet, that they only require the usual 

 fences to keep them within bounds. The second 

 objection is a much more serious one, because we 

 have not the remedy in our own hands, unless we 

 keep constantly on the watch against trespassers. 

 Our agricultural towns, however, can aid the farmer 

 very much in this matter. There is no more rea- 

 son why they should not prohibit dogs fi-om running 

 at large, as cattle or any other animals liable to do 

 injury, with penalties attached to the infraction of 

 any law passed for preventing tlais measure, as to 

 insure a proper obedience to it. Li many parts of 

 Rhode Island, where sheep husbandry has increased 

 very much of late, the farmers have united together 

 to keep off dogs, allowing no person to go over 

 their land if accompanied by one. Many suffer their 

 dogs to roam about, or to be their companions in 

 the field and the road, from inconsiderateness, and 

 when once they come to know the injury caused by 

 them, they are quite ready to join in preventing it. — 

 Mr. Fay's Address. 



WOEKIHG COWS. 



Were the question submitted to us — "Why 

 should not the cow be subjected to the yoke, as well 

 as the ox ?" the only reply, probably, we should 

 be able to make, would be the very insufficient one, 

 that popular custom is averse to, and would not 

 sanction it. Prejudice often goes a great way, in 

 such matters, even with the best informed. In 

 this country the cow has rarely been subjected to 

 labor of any kind ; yet in other countries the case 

 is different. In Spain and Great Britain, she is 

 made to labor, both on the farm and on the road, 

 and is said to be not only quicker but more tracta- 

 ble than the ox. One of our writers, who appears 

 to have investigated this subject with considerable 

 industry, remarks : — "We have no doubt that many 

 farmers who do not want cattle for travelling much 

 on the road, will find an advantage in working cows. 

 As this custom is not common among us, it would 

 be at once opposed by many as inconsistent, and 

 unreasonable. In this respect it would be like 

 many other improvements. There was a time when 

 many farmers thought the only method to dispose 

 of a large quantity of apples, was to work hard in 

 the fall and fill up their cellars with cider, and then 

 work hard in the winter to drink it up. They would 

 have laughed at the thought of wintering hogs in a 

 thriving condition, or fattening them mostly on ap- 

 ples ; ])ut experience has taught them that apples 

 are valuable for making pork, and that much cider- 

 drinking is attended with trouble and expense, and 

 is injurious to health ; and had we time, we would 

 show that many other improvements, when first in- 

 troduced, were regarded as changes for the woi-se." 



Another, adopting the same ^•iews, says : — "Why 

 cannot cows work as well as mares that are with 

 foal, or have to nourish offspring ? Mares, without 

 injury to themselves or their young, perform con- 

 siderable labor till within a month or two of their 



foaling ; and they again labor within a few Aveeks af- 

 ter that time, and with kind and gentle treatment, 

 and good keeping, they and their colts are better 

 than they would be, if they were entirely idle. 

 Look at animals through the A\ide creation, and see 

 how few among them are idle mothers ! Exercise 

 is conducive to health and strength ; and every an- 

 imal, four-legged, as well as two-legged, ought to 

 take, at least, moderate exercise, as it is conducive 

 to their comfort." 



In this connection we present the following ac- 

 count of an experiment, made some years since, by 

 an intelligent "Yankee Farmer," who had found the 

 expense of keeping a yoke of oxen on a small farm 

 somewhat more debilitating, in a pecuniary sense, 

 than his conceptions of strict economy mduced him 

 to regard advisable. He commenced working his 

 cows in 1836, in the spring, using a pair of cows 

 that had calved the previous January. They were 

 four years old and of a large size. He did all his 

 plowing and other spring work with them, work- 

 ing them almost every day. During this time they 

 continued to give a good mess of milk, and he was 

 unable to discover that their labor occasioned any 

 skrimpage, except on a couple of days when a young 

 colt, which was under process of "breaking" was 

 worked before them, and occasioned them unusual 

 fatigue. In the summer he hauled his hay with 

 them, and was not aware that they failed in any re- 

 spect to do as well as oxen. During the winter, 

 which was remarkable for its severity, and the depth 

 of the frequent snows, they were used for brealcing 

 roads, and not unfrequently got so deeply into the 

 drifts, as to render it necessary to relieve them by 

 shovelling. They were not, however, in the shght- 

 est degree injured, and calved the following April. 



The subsequent autumn, he worked an additional 

 yoke, making a team of four cows. With these he 

 did all his plowing, breaking green-sward, during 

 thirteen or fourteen days, besides plowing his corn 

 and potato lands. 



His hay was again housed by them, and in the 

 fall they harvested his crops, and were emjjloyed 

 very constantly till a late period in hauling wood, 

 rocks, &c. Their food Nvas straw, turnips and hay. 

 It is his opinion that cows, properly subjected to 

 the yoke, are quicker and smarter than oxen, and 

 will perform more labor, according to their size, if 

 kept in good condition. 



They are also less difficult to break, he says, than 

 steers, as all except one were perfectly mild and 

 kind after the third day. In this case the keeping 

 was no doubt good, as it should always be when 

 these useful animals are subjected to the yoke. 



When cows are made to labor, care and kindness 

 are of the greatest importance. On this subject, 

 a writer very truly remarks : — "Every animal should 

 be treated with kindness, but harsh treatment of 

 oxen would not. be attended with so much injury, 



