CHAP. VIII. 



YOKING OF OXEN. 



151 



yoked abreast. They affirm, also, that the pace is quicker in harness, 

 and that the animal works with greater ease. But their opponents 

 allege that oxen are more advantageously worked in couples than 

 singly, inasmuch as, being nearer to the draught, they possess greater 

 power over it than when drawing at length. They also consider that 

 the additional expense occasioned by a double number of one- ox carts and 

 drivers more than counterbalances the advantage of their use even if 



Fig. 47. Improved Yoke. " 



anywhere admitted, and they deny that the animal works either quicker 

 or with greater ease. 



It would be an endless task to detail the various comparative trials 

 that have been published on this long-contested subject ; and it may be 

 deemed sufficient to state the result of two, made some years ago in 



Fig. 48. Sussex Yoke for Draught Oxen. 



Sussex, where, from oxen being extensively used, the dispute had 

 excited more than ordinary interest. 



In order to decide tne respective merits of the two methods, it was 

 agreed that an acre of land should be ploughed by two teams, the one 

 of six oxen in double yokes, the other of four oxen in collars ; 

 and then, again, with four oxen in single yokes, against four in collars. 

 In the first trial, the six in yoke beat the four in collar easily ; 

 and in the second there was only three minutes difference. The 



