52 ECONOMY OF FARMING. 



On a close weedy soil, it will take them the same time to do 3 to 4 morgen (2^ to 3 J 

 acres). — Tr.] 



21. The labors of carrying out manure, of the harvest, of going for 

 wood and to market, cannot be estimated in general, but are very easily 

 so for a given case ; because the distance of the fields, meadows, and 

 woods as well as the market from the farm-houses, the condition of the 

 roads, the even or mountainous locality, &ic., determine the length of time 

 which must be employed for this purpose. 



[The labor of a horse in a day according to Professor Leslie is commonly reckoned 

 equal to that of five men, but he works only 8 hours, while a man easily continues 

 his exertions for 10 hours. The power of traction of horses seldom exceeds 144 lbs., 

 but they can carry inore than 6 times as much weight. The pack-horses in York- 

 shire transport loads of 420 lbs. over a hilly country ; but in many parts of England 

 the mill-horses will carry to a short distance 910 lbs. This is about the same that 

 the porters of Constantinople are said sometimes to carry. According to experienced 

 carters, in a load of 20 cwt, 5 cwt. but not morejmay be made to rest on the back of 

 the horse by means of the traces, chain and saddle. In the Supplement to the En- 

 cyclopedia Britannica, it is said, " On a well made road, two horses will draw about 

 a ton in a two-wheeled-cart for 20 or 25 miles every day." 



Veit's estimates respecting labor in carrying manure, the harvest, &c., have 

 already been given, to which the reader is referred on pp. 15 — 18. For carrying 

 wood, and other fuel, Thaer says : " We usually reckon at from 1 to 1^ miles (4^ 

 to 6| English miles) distance, 1 klafter of wood for a 4-spanned load ; at a greater 

 distance only ^ klafter ; at the distance of half a mile 2 loads daily." A klafter of 

 wood is 6 feet long, 6 feet broad and 3 feet high, consequently 108 cubic feet. A 

 German mile is 4| miles English. — Tr.] 



22. The number of beasts of labor necessary for conducting the house- 

 hold (Hausehalt), therefore depends in every farm on the kind and na- 

 ture of the same ; on the mode of husbandry ; on the nature of the soil ; 

 on the various parts of husbandry taken collectively ; and on the climate. 



23. One needs more oxen than horses ; more small or weak than great 

 and strong cattle ; more teams are required where one cultivates a great 

 variety of fruits, especially of fruits that must be tilled by the Hacken ; 

 less on the three-field (Dreifeld) system, still less on the natural grass- 

 growth (Egarten) husbandry ; more in clayey soils, less in the sandy ; 

 more, too, when the fields and meadows are wide apart from each other, 

 than when near together ; and where the climate limits the sowing of the 

 winter-grain to 6 weeks, a man must use one half more teams than where 

 there are 12 weeks for the same nurpose. 



If anyone will examine the actual state of the beasts of labor in different countries 

 and in different circumstances, he will find these propositions to be true. 



In a farm of mellow soil which has no fallow, and where they devote the 6th or 

 8th part of their fields to fruit to be cultivated by the Hacken, in which moreover is 

 raised on stubble ground of winter-wheat, buckwheat, turnips and mixed fodder, we 

 usually reckon with us 8 moderate sized horses for 100 yokes of pbugh-land (=: 

 142.2 acres), but if the climate is colder and no stubble-crops are cultivated, 10 or 12 

 horses or the same proportion of oxen, must be kept. 



The Hungerborn estate in Carinthia on 60 yokes (85| acres) of plough-land, and 

 30 yokes (42 1 acres) of meadow, had 2 horses, 6 oxen, and 2 three-year old oxen. 



Krug had on 54 yokes of plough-land (76 acres) and 30 yokes (42 1 acres) of meadow, 

 8 oxen, and 2 three-year olds. A moderately mountainous, cool, moist situation and 

 a mellow soil. 



Karlsberg, on 90 yokes of plough-land (nearly 128 acres), and 40 yokes of meadow- 

 land (56 i%^u acres), had 4 horses and 8 oxen. Marly soil, warm exposure. 



Wiesenau, on 75 yokes (lOOi'^g^o acres) of plough-land, and 45 yokes of meadow 

 (64 acres), kept 2 horses and 10 oxen. Soil mellow, situation cold. 



