.NO. 16. 



THE FARMERS CABINET- 



24 



as it is unjust, has existed airainst the ox from 

 my earliest boyhood — but 1 rejoice that it is 

 yivinfT way, and I think I liazard nothing- 

 in sayinir that in the course ot" a few years 

 they will be regarded by the intelligent 

 farmer as at least equal to ihe horse, for the 

 general work of the farm. Wh.liam Ash- 

 ford, of C'hester county, in a lelter addressed 

 to Joiin Vaughn, Esq., published in the first 

 volume of the Memoirs of the Philadelphia 

 Agricultural Society, says — "Another thing 

 in which I was wrong in not taking your ad- 

 vice, viz. not keeping oxen instead oi horses. 

 This spring all my horses became sick, and 

 1 was forced to buy a pair of oxen. I sup- 

 posed that I should be tired of them, but on 

 the contrary I am tired of horses, as I find 

 that with my two oxen I can do more work 

 tlian I could with four horses, and with half 

 the expense. I have worked horses forty 

 years, and if I had used oxen in their place 

 tliey would have put five hundred pounds in 

 my pocket." The following letter from 

 the Hon. Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts, 

 is extracted from the same source, the Me- 

 nu)irs of the Agricultural Society. 1 hope 

 it may find a place in your pages. He says, 

 '• You inquire the mode of breaking, feeding, 

 and working our oxen. The best broken 

 oxen are those which are early trained an(' 

 accustomed to the yoke with occasional light 

 work. They are often broken as early as at 

 one and two years of age, with gentle and 

 patient usage. At this j)eriod they are more 

 docile and tractable, and it is thought become 

 more powerful by being sooner accustomed 

 to each other, and in the application of their 

 strength to the draft. I believe they may be 

 taught to travel in almost any gait ; certain 

 it is, the rate at which oxen differently bro- 

 ken, will walk with their load, would seem 

 incredible to a person ignorant of the differ- 

 ence in the mode of their training. To ac- 

 custom them to a quick pace, tihey should 

 at first be driven in the yoke while young, 

 itwithout any, or a very light weight, and 

 Inever heavily loaded, until they have ar- 

 rived at full strength and maturity. A great 

 fault with many people is too much indiffer- 

 ence lo construction of the yoke. Almost any 

 shapeless piece of wood, with holes for the 

 insertion of the bows, is made to answer; 

 but to the ease of the draft, the adaptation 

 jf the yoke or bow to the neck of the bullock, 

 md the position of the staple and ring in 

 he yoke, are altogether material. For com- 

 Tion use, and particularly for ploughing, I 

 lave found yokes were generally too shoit. 

 Jattle of the largest size require a yoke from 

 our and a half to five feet in length. Li 

 Imrt yokes they are apt to haul^ as it is 

 ermed, that is draw /row each other, and to 

 uch a degree in some instances, as to cross 



their fore legs, and destroy their power am 



greatly impede their progress. I once ovvnei 



la ])air of cattle made totally useless by thi 



habit, and afterwards entirely corrected b^ 



the application of a yoke of eighteen inchei 



more length. A short yoke is necessary onh 



in snow paths, where cattle would otherwist 



crowd against each other, the opposite o 



/lan/iiif^, but of the same mischievous effect 



The value of a yoke of oxen, or a pair o 



horses, for use in all the business of a farn 



admits of no comparison. So decided is 



the preference for the former, that 1 do no 



believe a single farmer can be found in this 



extensive agricultural county who performs 



jhis labor by horses without oxen, while thert 



, are hundreds, 1 had almost said thousands. 



I who make no other use of horses in hus 



bandry than to furrow for planting, and 



plough among their corn for hoeing. 



Next to merino sheep, 1 consider the in- 

 troduction of the short horns, in the hlona 

 of Denton, as the richest acquisition to the 

 country which agriculture has received. Foi 

 jthe dairy and the stall I speak with the 

 utmost confidence of their pre-eminence. 

 From my three years old heifers I have 

 calves of the most promising appearance, 

 and greatly excelling any I have before seen. 

 One of the heifers gives from sixteen to 

 twenty quarts of the richest milk, by the 

 day, since calving; the other a little less, 

 [from the circumstance of having been in 

 tnilk continually for more than a year, but 

 her milk is in no degree inferior in quality. 

 The last season she gave eleven quarts at a 

 milking with grass only, and this not unfre- 

 quently. They keep as easily as the native 

 stock, and are as hardy. 



The estimate of the relative expenses of 

 keeping a pair of horses and of oxen, is in 

 the proportion of three for the former to two 

 for the latter, and to this is to be added the 

 value of the ox for beef when his strength, 

 fails for labor. If your farmers should once 

 be induced to substitute the ox for the horse 

 in their ordinary business, it could not fail 

 most essentially to advance their interests.'* 



Agricultural luiplements. 



No. 1. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet: 



Sir — As the object of your paper is to re- 

 cord such theories and facts as will tend to 

 make agriculture a science, I am induced to 

 send you a few remarks, which, if you think 

 worth the room they will occupy, and the 

 trouble of publishing, you may give them a 

 place when most convenient. 



The Plough, 



The object desired in a plough is to have 

 it ot such a form as to cut and turn the fur- 

 row slice in the most perfect manner with 



