TRAINING FARM ANIMALS. 67 



be exercised in the open air if it is desired to keep them in health 

 and vigor. They should always have a ring inserted through 

 the nose that they may be held in control, but they should 

 never be tied . up by anything attached to this ring. Always 

 use a rope tied around the horns; a sudden jerk is very apt to 

 tear the ring from the nose. Never fool with bulls, and beware 

 of trusting yourself in their power. They are subject to sud- 

 den fits of fierceness, when any defenceless person is liable to be 

 horribly destroyed. 



One of the most important duties on the farm is the breaking 

 of steers. It is best to begin with them as calves, and let the 

 boys play with them, and drive them tied or yoked together, 

 taking care they are not abused. When a pair of old steers are 

 to be put together and broken to the yoke, or a pair of bulls, as 

 not unfrequently happens, it is usually best to yoke them, and 

 tie their tails together, in an extempore stall, in a well fenced 

 yard, and then tui'n them loose in the yard, which should not 

 be large enough for them to run in and get under much head- 

 way. If the tails are not tied together they will frequently 

 turn the yoke, which is a very bad habit. After half a day's 

 association, the lesson of " gee up I" and " whoa !" may be 

 inculcated^and when well learned, probably the next* day, 

 "haw" and "gee." The daily lesson should be given after 

 they have stood yoked a while. They should not be taken 

 from the yard until they have become used to the yoke, and 

 are no longer wild and scary, as they are apt to be at first. 

 Each day all previous lessons should be repeated. Put them 

 before an ox-sled or a pair of cart wheels at first, rather than 

 to a stone boat, as they are apt to step on the chain, and that 

 frightens them. All treatment should be firm but mild, and 

 no superfluous words should be employed. 



As regards training heifers, a Pennsylvania farmer who has 

 trained and milked heifers for more than fifty years, and never has 

 any trouble about their jumping, kicking, or running, gives the 

 foliowuag as his secret : " When I intend to raise a heifer calf 

 for a milch cow, I always raise it by hand, and when feeding, 

 frequently handle it by rubbing it gently over the head and 

 neck until it becomes tame and gentle. The rubbing is begun 

 at the first feeding with milk, and continued until I quit feeding 

 it ', I never afterward have any trouble about milking them.*^ 



