

as Beasts of Draught. 131 



at the rate of L. 22, 15s. per annum, besides the annual increased 

 value of the oxen *. 



On all farms also, where the climate is precarious, and where, on 

 that account, it is desirable to have some " extra stock" at command, 

 oxen, being more cheaply maintained than horses, are entitled to a 

 preference ; and certainly may be advantageously employed in plough- 

 ing, in rolling, in carting dung or turnips, in thrashing mills, and for 

 short carriages in general. 



3. General Remarks. 



1. It is advisable to begin working oxen, as early as two or three 

 years old, but in such light work, and so moderately, as not to pre- 

 vent their growth. It will then be easier to correct their faults and 

 bad habits, which some are apt to get into. 



2. 'They should always be worked with the collars reversed, that 

 is, the broadest part uppermost. 



3. Where a proportion of oxen are kept, those of a small size, or 

 with light frames, ought to be avoided, for they cannot fully mas- 

 ter thejr work, or be made to move expeditiously in the plough. Nor 

 should they be-selected for their great size ; for in that case, they are 

 soon exhausted by their own exertions. Those of a moderate size, 

 whose form denotes superior agility and vigour, ought to be preferred. 

 Oxen with short legs have likewise been found the best labourers f . 



4. In the management of oxen, it is particularly desirable, (except 

 during the depth of winter), that they should be worked in two jour- 

 neys, or yokings in a day, that they may have sufficient time to ru- 

 minate in the interval. For that purpose, they should begin to work 

 very early in the morning. 



5. It is an excellent plan, to keep three oxen for each plough, and 

 to work only two of these at a time, alternately. Thus each ox is 

 only four days in the yoke every week. 



6. A much greater proportion of labour on a' farm might be done 

 by oxen, if they were shod. When oxen are worked on hard stony 

 roads, or obliged to go over rough frozen ground, they suffer severely 

 from the want of shoes, and true economy requires that they should 

 be shod as well as horses J. As yet, no shoe has been made in 



Husbandry of Scotland, first edit. p. 1 13 and 114. 



Sir Thomas Carmichael of Skirling, estimates that a pair of oxen is less ex- 

 pensive than a pair of horses, to the amount of L.27, 1 Is. per annum. Far- 

 mer's Magazine, vol. xiv. p. 43. 



f Mr Knight observes, that the more deep and capacious the chest, and the 

 shorter and the lower any animal is, relative to its weight, the better adapted it 

 will be to live and fatten upon little food, and the more labour it will go through. 

 Mr Marshall also, in his Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, says, that the best 

 labouring ox he ever saw, had the shortest legs. 



| It is usual in some parts of France to shoe their oxen ; and it is said that 

 they have discovered in New England, some improvement in that branch of 

 husbandry, an account of which it would be desirable to obtain. Mr Pickering 

 has suggested to " The Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture," the 

 propriety of communicating to the author, a drawing and description of the sim- 

 ple frame and apparatus, invented in New England, for the information of Bri- 



