USE OF OXEN 



149 



To the letter from Major Thruston already g^iven maybe added the 

 following-, which goes somewhat more into detail, from Mr. Agnew, 

 Postmaster at Wheeling, Virginia : — 



Wheeling, Nov, 23d, 1843. 

 J. S. Skinner, Esq. 



Dear Sir, — Your favour requesting me to obtain information re- 

 specting horses, wagons, &c., was received in due course of mail; 

 but as I was just leaving for Pittsburgh, I was compelled to defer 

 answering until my return. I conferred with several wagoners, and 

 give below the result of their united opinions. 



Respectfully, your ob't. servant, 



David Agnew. 



Sixteen miles. 



Six horses, average cost of each sixty-five 



dollars. 



1. The usual average daily travel of load- 

 ed wagons ? 



How many horses, and their average 

 cost or value ? 



The average time that horses so em- 

 ployed will last? 



At what age is it considered safe to 

 put them to such labour? 

 5. What the average cost of shoeing each 

 horse per annum ? 



What is the usual feed of kind and 

 quantity, and to how many oats is it 

 equivalent where oats are not used ? 



As to hay — is it in regular use on the 

 road, or does cut straw, or what, take 

 the place of it ? 



What is the wswaZ weight of their load 

 exclusive of their wagons, and what 

 the weight of the wagons? 



6. 



8 



9. W^hat is the first cost of wagon-har- 



ness per horse, and how long will a 

 set of harness last ? 



10. What is the cost of a wagon in pro- 

 portion to what it will carry — and 

 about how long will a wagon last 

 with ordinary care? 



Seven years. 



Five years. Many are used at three and 



four years. 

 Fifteen dollars. 



Oats is the only feed in use. Four and a 

 half bushels is allowed per day for 

 six horses. 



Cut straw is not used. Hay is in regular 

 use. 



The weight of loads varies from sixty to 



eighty hundred pounds ; seventy hun- 

 dred pounds is the usual weight ; 

 wagon's weight about 3,500 lbs. 



A wagon of the largest size used on the 

 national road costs $250; harness 

 per horse, §20; and will last six years. 



A wagon that will carry 3,000 lbs. costs 

 Si50 ; 4.000 lbs. gUtJO ; 5,000 lbs. §175 ; 

 C,000 lbs. S20U; 7,000 lbs. and up- 

 wards, §2.50; and with ordinary care 

 will last four years. 



In support of the adaptation of the ox to the road for heavy draft 

 and long journeys, the last authority which it is deemed necessary to 

 produce is one of unquestionable validity ; being no other than the 

 testimony of the late Timothy Pickering. Being called on for his 

 knowledge of the employment of ox-teams for the transportation of 

 military stores during the revolution, when he acted as Quarter-Mas- 

 ter-General under General Washington, the following is extracted 

 from an interesting reply, in which other views are embraced, con- 

 nected with other aspects of the subject, to be presently considered : 



" W hen in August, 1781, disappointed in the expected co-operation 

 of a French fleet against the enemy in New York, the commander- 

 in-chief decided on the expedition against the British army under 

 Lord Cornwallis in Virginia, I received his orders to provide for 

 13* 



