116 



THE OX— EFFECTS OF KIND TREATMENT, j 



In a domestic stale, treatment does much either 

 to improve or injure the condition ol this animal. 

 lis influence may be seen in the body and disposi- 

 lion, independently of the uniount of food it requrres. 

 One that has kind tre.itment, ond is caressed by 

 its owner, liardly ever fails of bein^ in good condi- 

 tion, «liiie, on tlie other hand, one that is beaten 

 and fears Us owner, and flies from his presence, is, 

 most {jenerally, inn bad condition, and is not of 

 half the value of the former. 



Hence, in addition to the dictates of liiiinanity, 

 interest should compel us to treat the ox and other 

 domestic animals with kindness, as, without this, a 

 farmer must necessarily fail in all alteinpts at thf 

 improvement of his stock. 



When first brought under the dominion of man, 

 and subjugated to the yoke, something like harsh- 

 ness IS necessary, till the individual is suhilued. 

 This, if followed by kindness, will make obedience 

 more certain; it will geciire a good understanding 

 between the parties. The subjugation will be con- 

 sidered, in the first place, as a matter of right by 

 the weaker party ; it meets with the same trials in 

 & state of nature, and is therefore no infraction of 

 a law of nature, or trespass on the bounds of jus- 

 tice, for e.Tpericnce has taught it harsher lessons, 

 while roaming its native plains and woodlands. — 

 When, however, it has submitted to the yoke of 

 servitude, acts of kindness only can secure a devo- 

 tion to our interest; if our treatment is marked 

 with cruely, it rouses a spirit of revenge, or breaks 

 it down to a statu of stupid indifference, and cre- 

 ates, in thr room of a faithful servant, a sullen, ill- 

 tempered dependant. 



His Intellect. The intellect of the ox, though 

 less than that of the horse, is yi.'t of a high charac- 

 ter, when compared with a majority of animals. — 

 That he is i-apable of filling the sphere in which 

 he was destined to move, before his reclamation 

 from the forest, is saying no more than can bo said 

 of all other animals. Jlis intellect, under a course 

 of education, will advance him higher than what 

 we should expect from his ordinary -appearance in 

 a state of servitude. 



Under some circumstances, he even exhibits the 

 sagacity of the dog. In South Africa, the Hotten- 

 tots train their oxen not only to guard themselves 

 but their flocks. In case of war with neighborini^ 

 tribes, he is sent forward on the battle field, and 

 the herd, moving in concert, overthrow every op- 

 posing obstacle, and thus prepare the way for an 

 easy conquest of the enemy. They in fact arc 



both the protectors and servants of the Caffre 



What the character of the Caffre ox is, so probably 

 was our domestic ox previous to his galling servi- 

 tude to the European. He is equally susljeptible 

 of improvement under tlie hand of culture, and 

 equally capable of increasing his amount of ser- 

 vice and of value. His fidelity and usefulness may 

 yet be increase^ during his life, and when put to 

 the stall for slaughter, ho may yield a two-fold 

 value to the proprietor — Emmons' Report on the 

 (luadrupeds of Mnssachusttls. 

 NATIVE STOCK AND ITS I.MPKOVEMENT. 



The varieties of cattle in New England are evi- 

 denlly numerous. The red cattle bear the marks 

 of the Devonshire breed, and probably difler as lit- 

 tle from them as possible, under the climate and 

 mode of treatment ther have met with. U jg not 

 • opposed that any arc of a pure blood, except those 

 recently imported. Where care has been taken of 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



OCT. i:i, Is4i 



young stock, i e. the ordinary care of a good hus- 

 bandman, it is believed that ihe cattle in this State 

 have as much power and as much speed at the plow 

 as any in tho world — even as the best of, the Devon- 

 shire in their own country. It remains to be shown 

 by experiment, how much the present race may be 

 improved by extra care, or what advantages are to 

 accrue from crossing with the best Knglish stocks. 

 It is the opinion of the writer, that the most feasi- 

 ble course for the New England farmer, is to im. 

 prove the present mixed race. This race is inured 

 to the climate, is not very deficient in good points, 

 attains a good size; the males are good workers, 

 and the females not deficient in milk. They aro a 

 race, like the New England people, who, though 

 descended from the English, retain but few of their 

 characteristics, and having acquired some new ones, 

 are, on the whole, not inferior to the original stock. 

 A fine held is opened to the husbandman, for the 

 improvement of the stock now on his farm ; not by 

 expensive, uncertain importation of cattle from a 

 climate essentially dilTerent from ours, but by se- 

 lecting the best of his [iresent stock \\>! breeders. 

 Much has been said on the best mode of breeding 

 cattle, and undoubtedly on this, as on all obscure 

 subjects, there has been a mixture of truth and er- 

 ror. 



In a state of nature, there are few changes for 

 the better or worse. The species attains a cer- 

 tain size, has similar marks from age to age, when 

 living under the same circumstances. But changes 

 in size, color, &c., do occur even in a wild state, 

 yet more limited than in a state of domestication. 

 How many varieties may spring from a single 

 stock, it is impossible to tell. The variation is'so 

 great in some cases, that the individuals are con- 

 sidered for a time as distinct species. The prac- 

 tice of breeding in-and-in, as it is termed, although 

 advocated by eminent men, cannot raise a variety 

 to the highest perfection of which the species is 

 susceptible. For it is evident, that on the princi- 

 ple on which this is advocated, viz: "that like will 

 produce like," if the variety has any defects, they 

 too must find a place in the progeny, as well as 

 its perfections. 



Besides, the practice of breeding in-and-in, has 

 another more serious objection : the stock will not 

 hold its own for many generations, but it will finally 

 depreciate till it has become worthless. This rests 



on a law of the animal and vegetable kingdom. 



Another question has been discussed in relation to 



niutual influence of parents on their oflspring. 



Liniiinus, who was one of the most accurate observ- 

 ers of nature, has satisfactorily elucidated this 

 point According to him, tho male imparts the 

 external characters, and the female the internal. 



The breeding of the jack with the inare, produ. 

 ces a mule — having the ears, head, skin and tail 

 of the former. The common goat, whoso hair is 

 always coarse and useless, crossing with a fine- 

 fleeced Angora goat, produces, like the male pa- 

 rent, an offspring, whose coat is also coarse and 

 worthless, — but change the order, in the latter 

 case, and the coating is improved. These facts 

 have an important bearing on the improvement of 

 both cattle and sheep. It is hardly necessary to 

 make tlie application to either of this species of 

 stock ; It is suliicient to say that wo need not ex- 

 pect line wool from a conrBC-woolled buck, nor a 

 large quantity of milk from a mother whose milk 

 is deficient in this respect ; and the principle holds 

 true in relation to quality. The character of the 

 most importance in cowa, then, is their milk. It 



is true, beef may be made of a cow not remarkal 

 ("or milk ; it is, however, but reasonable to int 

 that a good milker will also make beef easily, a 

 of a good quality, when she is dried, for the m 

 ter for the secretion of inilk, will then be conve 

 ed into meat. The value of a cow does not i 

 pend on the number of quarts of milk she giv 

 but on the quantity of cream. The best method E 

 determining the quantity of cream, is to dividi* 

 tall glass into equal parts, or inches, and let i» 

 last inch be divided into quarters or tenths, acco ^ 

 ing to the piiint of accurocy it is wished toobser\| 

 let this glass be filled with milk and set aside, i 

 proportion of cream to the milk may then be kno 



by the proportion of the parts it occupies. Ibid. 



MILK. 



This well known fluid consists of three distil 

 substances or parts — cream, curd and whey; ii 

 which it separates spontaneously by repose. Crei 

 has a specific gravity of 1.0244, according to B 

 zelius, and consists, in 100 parts, of butter 4 

 caseous matter 3.5, and whey 92. During the 

 dinary process of churning, it is said that there 

 an elevation of temperature amounting to three 

 four degrees ; at the same time oxygen is abso 

 ed, and an acid is generated. But the format 

 of butter, or its separation from the other eleme 

 of cream, does not depend on the absorpiion of i 

 ygen gas, as it can be obtained when the atin- 

 phere is entirely excluded. The curd which 

 formed, soon after the separation of the cream, 1 

 comes a sort of coagulum, by the action of a fi 

 acid, or by rennet. It is considered as pure ca 

 ous matter, or the basis of cheese. Tho action 

 rennet, in separating the caseous matter, is i 

 well understood, but it is generally supposed 

 act in consequence of the presence of gastric jui 

 which is always more or less acid. 



Caseous matter yields, on analysis, carbon 51». 

 hydrogen 7.42, oxygen 1 1.40, nitrogen 21.:3b. Wl 

 burnt, it yields an ash which amounts to (j.5 of 

 weight, the greater part of which is phosphate 

 lime. This substance makes the caseous niat 

 so valuable as an article of food to young aiiimi 

 It is during this period that the bones require I 

 depository of this solid earthy matter to give tli 

 strength and coniistence. Milk, when deprived 

 cream, has a specific gravity of 1.03, and yields, 

 the 1000 parts, water y2ti.7.5, caseous n'latter ■ 

 sugar of milk :J5, muriate and phosphate of potai 

 1.1)5, with traces of a few other unimportant e 

 meuts. — Ibid. 



EXPERIMENT IN PLANTING CORN. 

 To the Editor of the Farmer's Register: 



• • • • t 



While my pen is in hand, I will give you llio d 

 tails of an experiment in planting corn, which 

 made in ]8:ti). It may be of some interest tu yo 

 readers. 



My object was to ascertain how the pro.luct 

 the crop is alTectcd by the mode of plantii 

 with only a single stalk in a hill, or with moi 

 A piece of land of good quality, and pretiv w« 

 manured, I laid ofl" by stakes in straight rows 

 drills, tl feet apart. Thirty of these rows of eqO 

 length, were divided into three parcels of Id rol 

 each. One of these parcels I planted with 

 gle stalk in a hill, the hills being placed on 

 half foot npart in the drill ; one with two ^ 

 a hill, the lulls three feet apart in the di 

 the other with three stalks in a hill, the hi! 



an 



