26 Comparison between Horses and Oxen, 



vent their being fattened, and disposed of to advantage ; that oxen 

 increase in value about L.3 per annum, during the time they are 

 wrought ; while horses, after they are above seven or eight years of age, 

 usually fall off in price, to much the same amount ; that as they are 

 a more steady and regular draught than horses, they are peculiarly cal- 

 culated for ploughing strong, stony or rough-swarded old grass land * ; 

 that though it is better, to require only about two-thirds labour from 

 them, yet, when properly fed, that they can execute nearly as much 

 work, in the same space of time, as horses -j- ; that while horses re- 

 quire corn in proportion as they are worked, oxen need only a moderate 

 quantity of turnips and oat straw ; that in a maritime country, it is 

 essential, that seamen should be provided with beef of a superior 

 quality, which can best be procured from oxen, who have gradually, 

 under the working system, reached their maturity J ; and that while 

 the horse is at last thrown into a ditch, and nothing recovered but his 

 skin, the ox, after having laboured three or four seasons, will sell at 

 from five to ten pounds higher, according to his size and condition, 

 than when first subjected to the yoke . 



The objections to the use of oxen are as follow : 



1. It is argued by those who are hostile to the use of oxen, that they 

 are difficult to train, and on the whole less tractable than horses. 

 This, however, is flatly contradicted by the advocates for the use of 

 oxen, who maintain, that there is no more difficulty in training oxen 

 than horses || ; that, when properly managed, they generally become 

 sufficiently tractable, to be driven by a ploughman, without any other 

 attendant, in the space of a few days ; that in all countries where the 

 ox is the ordinary draught animal, his docility is proverbial ; that the 

 want of success, in preparing oxen for the draught, is owing to inex- 

 perience, or has been occasioned by the obstinacy of servants, who will 

 not take the trouble of training them ; and that any intractability, 

 where it does exist, has arisen, from the animals having been only 

 used occasionally with long and irregular intervals ; during which the 

 habit of discipline being broken, a new one is to be formed ^[. 



* Oxen move at a steady and persevering pace. In ploughing up old turf 

 land, their motion in the plough being more steady than that of horses, the 

 flag is less broken in turning over, which is a great advantage in the process 

 of dibbling. Oxen also, being steady, and not easily alarmed, are greatly pre- 

 ferable for cultivating reclaimed bogs, in which horses would fret, and plunge, 

 or stick fast altogether, whereas oxen would remain unalarmed. 

 " f It is not fair however, to expect the same quantity of work, from oxen 

 fed on straw and turnips, as from horses fed on corn and hay. 



\ The flesh of young, or half-grown cattle, never takes salt well. 



All these arguments in favour of oxen, as applicable to turnip-land farms, 

 Mr Walker of Mellendean, in Roxburghshire, approves of, after an expe- 

 rience of thirty-five years. 



|| Mr Walker of Mellendean asserts, that where the method is understood, 

 oxen are as easily trained as horses. 



\ See an able paper on horses and oxen, by Mr Maddison, formerly President 

 of the United States of America, printed in " The American Farmer," published 

 Septembers. 1819, from which several hints are here adopted. In that pe- 

 riodical publication, there is likewise some valuable information, from George 

 W. Erving, and Timothy Pickering, Esqs. Indeed, the subject seems to have 

 strongly attracted the attention of the agriculturists of America. 



