34 



who buys a horse, does not usually get his money back when 

 he sells. If he buys a good sound horse, the animal is sub- 

 ject to the ten thousand ills to which horse flesh is heir, and 

 he is liable any day to find that by some unlucky wrench or 

 strain, or carelessness, fifty per cent, of the value has van- 

 ished. If he makes an unlucky trade, and finds that his 

 horse has some quality which he don't like, or is utterly 

 Wanting in the traits he most desires, he cannot easily sell, 

 but must wait months for a customer, and then sell at a low 

 fio;ure. It is true it is not much easier to find a customer for 

 a poor, thin pair of oxen, than for a horse ; but we don't be- 

 lieve a good farmer will often have that kind of oxen. If 

 oxen are fat enough for beef, they will always sell at the mar- 

 ket price ; so that if one buys a pair of cattle to work for a 

 short time, he need not lose anything if the price of beef re- 

 mains the same. The difference in the cost of keeping a pair 

 of horses and a seven-foot pair of cattle for a year, is not 

 very much. The oxen probably cost the most in the winter, 

 and the horses in the summer. We do not advocate the use 

 of oxen for farm work by every farmer, but we think that by 

 proper manasfement they can be used profitably to a greater 

 extent than they are. And the first and principal point is to 

 buy the right kind of cattle. It is a common notion that it 

 is most profitable to buy thin cattle, and by good keeping 

 get them fat, thus making a gain. We believe this is a great 

 mistake. Our own experience is, that the most unfortunate 

 trades we ever made were in buying that kind of stock. 

 There is always some reason why cattle are thin, and unless 

 we know all about them it is impossible to tell whether it is 

 for want of good keeping, or because they are dainty, or by 

 reason of hard work. If it is because of poor keeping, they 

 will thrive and fatten on good living. But nine times in ten 

 cattle are thin and lankj either from daintiness or hard 

 work. There is nothing more provoking than to see cattle 

 poke over their feed, only eating the choicest bits, and it is 



