USE OF OXEN 



141 



To the letter from Major Thru ston already o;iven niay be added the 

 followiny;, which goes somewhat more into detail, from Mr. Agnew, 

 Postmaster at Wheeling, Virginia : — 



IVhcding, Nov. 23(7, 1S43. 

 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 f 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. 



i. The usual average daily travel of load- 

 ed wagons ? 



? w many liorses, and their average 

 COST or vaiue ? 



3. Tile averacre time that horses so em- 

 ployed will last ? 



t. At what ape is it considered safe to 

 put tliein to such labour? 



g. What the average cost of shoeing each 

 horse per annum ? 



6. What is the usual feed of kind and 



quantity, and to how many oats is it 

 equivalent v. here oats are not used? 



7. As to hay — is it in regular use on the 



road, or does cut straw, or what, take 

 the place of it ? 



8. What is the iisual weicht of their load 



exclusive of their wagons, and what 

 the weight of the wagons ? 



9. What is the first cost of waeon-har- 



ness per horse, and how long will a 

 set of harness iast ? 



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

 portion to what it will carry — and 

 about how long will a wagon last 

 w ith ordinary care ? 



Sixteen miles. 



Six horses, average cost of each sixty-five 



dollars. 

 Seven years. 



Five years. Many are used at three and 



four years. 

 Fifteen doiiars. 



Oats is the only feed in use. Four and a 

 half bushels is allowed per day for 

 six Iiorses. 



Cut straw is not used. Hay js in regula* 

 use. 



The weisrht of loads varips from sixty to 

 eighty hundred pounus ; sevtjuty hun- 

 dred pounds is the usual weight ; 

 wagon's weight about :i.JQ<J lbs. 



A wauon of the largest size used on the 

 national road costs S?.50; harness 

 per horse, 8-0; and u ill last six years. 



A wasron that will carry 3,0"0 lbs. cf sis 

 Sl.iO ; 4.000 lbs. SloO'; 5,«ii0 lbs. $175 ; 

 G.OOO lbs. .S20U; 7,000 lbs. and up- 

 wards, Si50; and with ordinary care 

 will last four years. 



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

 and lono- journeys, the last authority winch 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 hi.s 

 knowledo-e 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 rejily, in which other views are embraced, con- 

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



'•When in August, 1781, disappointed in the expected co-operation 

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

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

 Lord Coruwallis^n Virginia, I received his orders to provide foi 



