20 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



considered such farms to be indispensible for 

 bringing out the best stock ; and lie lioped the 

 public attention would be drawn to it. 



]n the course of the evening, Asa G. Shel- 

 don, Esq. member of the House from Wilming- 

 ton, gave a succinct and very interesting descrip- 

 tion of the good points in the working ox. He 

 said that for free and docile cattle those with long 

 head and iace, and eyes lively and sharp, but 

 pleasant, should be taken: as much could he 

 learned of the intelligence and capacity of the ox 

 from his eye as from the eye of a man. Cattle 

 with straight legs and toes standing exactly for- 

 ward, should be jireferred ; for if the ox toes out, 

 the knees will strike together. The long pointed 

 hoof should be avoided, and the square hoof pre- 

 ferred, because the former will claw the earth, 

 while the latter will leave a direct imprint upon 

 the ground. 



Mr. S. gave a preference to the ox that had been 

 bandied when young : he thought the work of 

 three pairs of the same size would be worth as 

 much as that of four pairs which had not been 

 broken in until they attained their full growth. 

 He illustrated this opinion by the education and 

 labor of two boys of equal strength, the one 

 brought up in a counting room, the other in a 

 blacksmith shop : brought to do labor requiring 

 physical strength, the" latter would accomplish 

 nnich more with far less fatigue than the former: 

 there was quite as much difference in oxen inur- 

 ed to labor when young and those which had not 

 been early broken in. 



' Mr. Sheldon said tliat from his experience 

 with work horses he had found that those of 

 high blood and mettle might be easily taught to 

 work well before cattle and with each other. 

 The difficulty in training and breaking young 

 horses was that their disposition was injured by 

 the too free use of the whip. He said the best 

 way to break a high mettled colt was to take him 

 away from his i)lace of keeping in the afternoon 

 and work him with his head towards home. 



We consider Mr. Slieldon's knowledge and 

 judgment in regard to cattle to be as good at least 

 as any other man in this coimtry, he liaving had 

 more experience especially with oxen than any 

 teamster probably in New England. In the 

 years 1813 and 18i4, when in consequence of the 

 war with Great Britain, our carriage was princi- 

 pally over land, and not then with tlie present rail 

 road speed, Mr. Sheldon drove a team of six ox- 

 en seven times from the city of Boston to the 

 city of New York, a distance eacii way of more 

 than two hundred miles. In the year 1835, he 

 undertook the job of digging and Carting away 

 Pemberton Hill in Boston, a portion of the estate 

 ot the late Gardner Greene, which is now cover- 

 ed with some of the most splendid stores and 

 dwelling houses in the city. He undertook to do 

 this in the space of six months, but for a premi- 

 um performed the labor in exactly five months. 

 The earth was transported over the paved streets 

 the distance of nearly three fourths of a mile ; 

 and the hill itself was taken oft'and made to cov- 

 er eight acres of water where the stores and 

 counting rooms of the Lowell depot in the north- 

 westerly part of the town opjiosite Lech mere 

 point have since been erected. It was a giant 

 undertaking for any one man ; and almost ev- 

 ery teamster supposed that oxen would not stand 

 it to travel over the pavements a week at a time. 

 Mr. Sheldon selected, purchased and kept one 

 hundred and eighteen oxen to do the work ; and 

 these held out under his careful direction to com- 

 plete it. He made not a bad job of it, notv^ itli- 

 standing the wages of the Lish diggers were 

 raised while it was going on from 84 cents to 

 $1,17 per day, and the prices of English hay 

 from 60 to 130 cents the hundred, and corn for 

 ox-feeding from 60 to 125 cents the bushel — mak- 

 ing a difference of about SiTOOO in this part of the 

 expense. 



Mr. Sheldon has settled in Wilmington, which 

 town he represents, being about fifteen miles cuit 

 of Boston, where he is making a farm upon sev- 

 eral spots of worn out land which he has purchas- 

 ed. On all farms at that distance from the capi- 

 tal, English hay is the more profitable ciop. Mr. 

 S. has converted considerable rough ground with 

 a wet soil covei'ed with alders into very good 

 mowing fields where the soil was too rugged for 

 tlie plough. He cuts the alders close to the 

 ground, repeatedly mowing down the sprouts, 

 aud keeping them down until the roots die. He 



digs out the rocks most in the way, and introdu- 

 ces the better kind of grasses, herdsgrass and red- 

 top, and in some instances clover, spreading 

 over the ground warming manures. In six years 

 upon these premises, at first producing not over 

 two tons of hay, he has increased the product to 

 an aniuial amount of more than twenty tons. 



That we might be quite sure ofpresentingvvith 

 accuracy Mr. Sheldon's description of the good 

 points of an ox, the editor of the Visitor person- 

 ally requested Mr. S. to give his opinions upon 

 paper, which he has done in the following letter, 

 which of itself is worth a whole volume of what 

 the mere book-worm compiling a work on rear- 

 ing cattle might give to The public. 

 MR. Sheldon's description of the good and 



BAD POINTS IN working OXEN. 



irUminglon, Feb. Gth, 1841. 



Hon Isaac Hill— Sir:— In compliance with 

 your request, I forward you, what 1 have found, 

 by a somewhat extensive experience, to be the 

 best method, by which to select good working 

 oxen. 



Would you select a good worker, make choice 

 of an ox possessed of a long lean face, a keen 

 but ])leasant eye ; as these filatures indicate 

 greater amount of energy and docility than their 

 opposite. 



The horn should be rather long, but not large. 



An ox formed for service must have a full 

 breast, as that denotes muscular power. 



It is very essential that the fore legs be straight, 

 and that they toe straight-forward ; for when the 

 toes turn out, the knees bend in, thereby produc- 

 ing weakness and lameness in the animal. 



The feet should be larger than the ancles ; the 

 hoof should be wide aud not pointed, as this e 

 ables him to travel upon frozen ground, and ov 

 pavements w ith gieater ease. 



The back shouhl be straight, although if it 

 should slope slightly from the ruuip to the tail it 

 will be no serious objection. 



The ribs should be round, as this indicates a 

 robust constitution. 



With regard to the breaking in of oxen, let i 

 be done wlien tliey are quite young, as they be 

 come by this means inured early to labor and ac 

 quire a capacity for work, uncommon in those not 

 put to early labor. 



Hespectfully yours, 



ASA G. SHELDON 



troiu the N. Y. Jourual of Commerce. 

 The 3Iammoth Cave. 



Tliis vast subterranean territory is situated in 

 Edmonson county, Kentucky, in 37 degi 

 north latitude. Tlie cave extends under the 

 great range of knobs which border what have 

 usually been called the Green River Barrens, and 

 is near to Green river, and on its southerly side. 

 The Barrens were formerly destitute of timber, 

 but covered with high grass, which was every 

 year destroyed by fire. Since this section of 

 Kentucky has boconie thickly st'ttled, the fires 

 have bceii prevented, and now the land is be 

 coming thickly covered w iih a growth of hickoiy, 

 oak, and chestnut timber. The knobs are a range 

 of hills v\hich extend a great distance on the 

 southerly side of Green river, an<I hound its wa- 

 ters on the south. This region of country is a 

 limestone formation. Many of the streams of 

 water run under ground for great distances. 



The Mammoth Cave is of vast extent, and 

 equal in size (reckoning all its branches and 

 apartments) to the whole Island of New York. 

 The main cave is, as far as explored, thirteen 

 miles in length, with numerous branches making 

 off in every direction. The entrance to the cave 

 is though a passage in the rock at the bottom of 

 a hill and at the foot of a knob ; and is about six 

 feet in width and ten feet in height for about 

 thirty yards ; after this it increases in height and 

 width. During v.inter a strong current of air 

 rushes into the cave^in summer the current 

 changes, and blows equally strong out of the cave. 

 The roof and sides are of solid limestone ; the 

 bottom is covered with earth to the depth of sev- 

 eral feet, and beneath this earth is solid rock. The 

 earth on the bottom of the cave is strongly im- 

 l)regnated with the nitrate of lime; and during 

 the last war, and for several years ])revious, large 

 quantities of saltpetre were manufactured at this 

 cave. A large portion of carbonated alkali was 

 required to be used in crystallizing the nitre. 



which increased the expense of the process to 

 such an extent that it cannot now be made to 

 compete with the saltpetre imported from the 

 East Indies, which is now sold in our markets at 

 a very low price, The supply of nitrate of lime 

 in the Mammoth Cave is inexhaustible. The 

 earth in the cave, after having been lixiviated, be- 

 comes re-impregnated with the nitrate again, 

 equally strong as at first, in about three years. 

 The process of making saltpetre was by leeching 

 or lixiviating the earth in hoppers, in the same 

 manner as ashes are leeched to make soap or 

 potash; then evaporating tha liquid to a certain 

 consistency, and mixing it with cai-bonated alkali 

 itnd allowing it to crystallize. Hoppers were 

 constructed in the cave about one mile from its 

 mouth, to which water was conveyed in vvooden 

 pipes from the outside, aud the liquor obtained 

 from the hoppers ivas conveyed to the mouth of 

 the cave by the same means, where it was raised 

 by pumps into the evaporating pans. About fifty 

 men were employed during the war, in the Mam- 

 moth Cave, in collecting and lixiviating the earth, 

 together with oxen to draw the earth to the hop- 

 pers. During the whole time these men were 

 employed in the cave, there was not a case of 

 sickness among them. The atmo.sphere of tlie 

 cave isdi-y,andof unilbrm temiieraturc through- 

 out the year, viz : 60 degj-ees of Fahrenheit. Ani- 

 mal and vegetable substances placed in the cave 

 would become dry, but never putrefy, or decom- 

 jiose. It is considered one of the most healthy 

 places known ; and the valetudinarian could resort 

 to this cave for the recovery of health, with greater 

 ]irospect of relief, than to any other climate what- 

 ever. On this point there can be no doubt ; and 

 medical or scientific men can philosophically ac- 

 count for this, from this fact, that the atmosphere 

 is dry, and of unitbrm tem])prature throughout the 

 year. The air of the cave is pure, respiration is 

 easy, combustion goes on well, lights burn bright 

 and clear. Animal and vegetable substances de- 

 compose and puuefy from the effects of heat and 

 moisture combined. In the cave these arc both 

 absent. Besides this, the climate of this section 

 of Kentutky is delightful ; and immediately 

 around the cave, the country is picturesque and 

 beautiful, and a residence there for a valetudinari- 

 an would afford medicine to the mind as well as 

 the body. The road in the cave for the first mile is 

 as good as any of our country roads. Many per- 

 sons may suppose this great subterranean apart- 

 iiifiit is gloomy — not so. It is of too vast extent 

 Its mighty wails and vast apartments afford a 

 sublime spectacle, and impress the mind with 

 wonder and admiration. This is the work of the 

 great Architect of nature, and no person can 

 traverse this vast subterranean territory, without 

 feelings of veneration and awe. Here the sound 

 of the mighty peals of the rolling thunder never 

 reach. All is "still — quiet and peacefid. Mr. Gorin, 

 of Glasgow, Ky. wrote me in 1839 that he had 

 erected a hotel at the mouth of the cave for the 

 accommodation of visiters. He was at that time 

 proprietor oftlie Mammoth Cave tract, consisting 

 of about 1600 acres, which he improved as a 

 grazing farm. Since then, I have been informed 

 that the cave has been purchased by Dr. Croghan, 

 of Louisville, and that he intends constructing a 

 hotel in the cave. I presume that the spot he 

 will select for building is the foot of the mountain, 

 as it is called, about a mile from the mouth. Here 

 the roof and walls are of great height, and the 

 cave of great breadth. This cave is visited by 

 vast numbers of persons — it is about eight miles 

 distant from the great road leading from Lexing- 

 ton to Nashville, and is about an equal distance 

 from Lexington, Louisville and Nashville, viz. 

 about 100 miles. To persons entering the cave 

 at the time it was worked for saltpetre, the first 

 glimpse which the visiters caught of the group of 

 blacks working by torch light, at a distance a- 

 head, and of their white shining teeth, was very 

 imposing, and can be better imagined than dj 

 .scribed. Mr. Miller, who resided at the cave a 

 number of years and had charge of the ssltpetre 

 works, assured me that he had never seen any 

 animal or reptile in the cave. I have been much 

 at the cave, having resided there for weeks togeth- 

 er, and my knowledge of it is derived from per- 

 sonal observation. Mr. Gorin, in his letter to me 

 of last year, states that a large apartment had 

 been recently discovered in a distant 'part of the 

 cave, in the form of a sciiii-circle, about five hun- 

 dred feet in htiight and the same in width, and 



