282 



Use of Oxen. 



Vol. XII. 



Use of Oxen. 



So deep is the conviction of the great 

 saving which vvoulil be accomplished by in- 

 dividuals, adding immensely, in the aggre- 

 gate, to our national wealth, by a more ex- 

 tended use of oxen in lieu of horses in the 

 genera] labours of husbandry, that the occa- 

 sion is here embraced to present the views 

 by which that conviction has been establish- 

 ed, and the editor feels persuaded that he 

 might venture to introduce these views, on 

 the score of their intrinsic importance, even 

 though the subject to which they relate were 

 not so naturally associated, as it seems to be, 

 with a work on the diseases of cattle. 



That "a farming district may be judged 

 of by its working oxen, as safely as by its 

 barns or its corn-fields," has been laid down 

 as an axiom by a Committee of Farmers, — 

 working men in the true sense of the word, 

 — of Massachusetts, at an exhibition where 

 no premium was offered for horses, expressly 

 on the ground that "it was believed that the 

 interest of the farmer is promoted by substi 

 tuting the ox for the horse, for 7nost pur 

 poses, as he is fed with less expense, is more 

 patient of labour, and is more valuable when 

 his service is ended." This declaration in 

 favour of the ox for "most purposes," is at 

 once explicit and broad, and might seem to 

 settle the question ; but there are considera- 

 tions arising out of difference of soil and cli- 

 mate, which obviously demand a comparison 

 of circumstances to see how far that system 

 admits of general application, which is here 

 proclaimed on the best authority to be expe- 

 dient throughout New England : and this 

 brings us at once to the most formidable ob- 

 jections to the use of oxen — their alleged 

 incapacity to withstand, token labouring, 

 the heat of more southern latitudes, and 

 their slowness of motion. 



As to New England, in addition to the 

 evidence already quoted, we may give here 

 the answer of the venerable Josiah Quincy, 

 now President of the time-honoured Harvard 

 University, to a letter ncce addressed to him 

 by the writer of this: " Oxen," said he, "are 

 used almost wholly for plough and team work 

 in this quarter of the coimtry. A single 

 horse is usually kept by our farmers to go 

 to mill and to church, and for the conveni- 

 ence of the family. Tliis is so universal as 

 to be almost without exception among mere 

 farmers. They certainly answer ail pur- 

 poses except perhaps speed, ami in this, on a 

 long journey, they are considered as quite 

 equal to horses. Our farmers are so satis- 

 fied with their utility and economy, that no 

 argument would induce them to change." 

 Heuce it is seen that no reasoning is ne 



cessary to recommend the ox to general use 

 in all that portion of America, and this evi- 

 dence has been adduced to prevail upon 

 southern readers to refect on the subject, 

 by showing, what many of them do not 

 know, that already, in many of our States 

 where the folks are nice judges of economi- 

 cal and labour-saving machines, animate and 

 inanimate, oxen are actually substituted, and 

 horses altogether banished for all farming 

 purposes, and that their speed on long jour- 

 neys is quite equal to that of horses. On 

 the point of speed we shall speak again and 

 conclusively, when we shall have dismissed 

 the one in hand, to wit: — capacity to bear 

 heat ! 



It was for a long time believed that the ox 

 was a native of Europe, and that in the Au- 

 rock, rurming wild in the forests of Pol and, his 

 original type was to be found; but Cuvier's 

 researches in comparative anatomy have es- 

 tablished the belief that the cow is a native 

 of Southern Asia, and thence may be deduced 

 an argument that there is nothing in the na- 

 tural constitution of the ox which forbids his 

 manifesting his entire capabilities in south- 

 ern climates. If there were, how is it that in 

 South America he reaches his highest de- 

 velopements of size and power 1 As one of 

 the Commissioners to South America, Chan- 

 cellor Bland, in a report which Mr. Adams 

 pronounced to be one of the ablest papers 

 ever presented to the government, thus de- 

 scribes the ox-carts employed, and the won- 

 derful powers of endurance of this patient 

 animal in crossing the pampas of Buenos 

 Ayres. It speaks conclusively to both the 

 objections — want of ?peed and power to bear 

 heat. 



"TheTecuman and Mendoza carts, at a 

 little distance, looked like thatched cabins 

 slowly moving over the plain — the whole 

 machine is destitute of a nail or a bit of iron ; 

 its great coarse wheels are not less than 

 eight feet in diameter; six oxen, in general 

 noble strong animals, move it; the two front 

 pair have a great length of cord by which 

 they draw; and the load of the cart, which, 

 on an average, is not less than four thousand 

 weight, is pretty nearly balanced on the axle- 

 tree; the body of the cart is either covered 

 with raw hide or thatch, made of reeds or 

 straw; and with a collection of brushwood, 

 as fuel, tied on the top, and brought from the 

 westward of the primpas> these carts are seen 

 crossing the plams in caravans of from thirty 

 to forty together. On the journey the oxen 

 are unyoked occasionally through the day 

 and night, and permitted to seek their food 

 round about. Thus without any other pro- 

 vision than what is necessary for himself, 

 the carrier pursues his way over a waste of 



