TEAM. 



Thefe 320,000 acres of land will produce 50,000 fat oxen, 

 »r 32 acres will produce five fat oxen ; fiippofe them 27olhs. 

 per quarter each, or 5400 lbs. of beef from 32 acres; this 

 ui 1 68 J lbs. of Wd per acre per annum: but a dairy will, 

 it is faid, produce more, and a flock of flu-cp well managed 

 quite as much human food per acre. Little advantage, 

 therefore, would, it is faid, be derived from tliis change of 

 fubftituting oxen for horfes in agriculture, unlefs the ufe of 

 horfes on the road, and for purpofes of pleafure, luxury, 

 pomp, amufement, trade, mining, manufactures, commerce, 

 and war, could be abolifhed or Icfrened. 



Accordingly, Mr. Malthus thinks the advantages of 

 luxury, when it falls fhort of aftual vice, are certainly 

 great : it cannot be denied, but it contributes to the com- 

 forts, enjoyments, and confequent happinefs of a nation ; 

 but if carried too far, it will completely defeat its own pur- 

 pofe ; the fureft way is to itop Ihort of tlie mark. 



In the clear, full, and excellent account of the ftate of 

 agriculture in the county of Middlefex, the very able and 

 experienced author has brought together into one point of 

 view a great number and variety of the different objeftions 

 and reafons, which either operate againft or wholly prevent 

 the ufe of oxen for the piirpofe of performing team-labour ; 

 and which the inquirer, who \vi(hes for more full information 

 on fo important a fubjeft, may do well to confult, as they 

 place the quellion witli much clearnefs and decifion greatly 

 in favour, and on the fide, of the horfe. 



In faft, the writer thmks it very clear, that tliofe perfons 

 who prefer horfes to oxen, for the purpofe of labour, dif- 

 play fuperior knowledge in agriculture. This opinion, he 

 fays, is fanftioned by the praSice of nine-tenths of the bcft 

 huftandmen in the nation. In proportion as Britons become 

 enhghtened, they lay afide ox-teams ; and experience has 

 now fo completely eftabhfhed the fuperiority of horfes, as to 

 render their employment almoft univerfal. And under this 

 fyftem, the fcience and praftice of agriculture have improved 

 more rapidly than at any former period of time. " The 

 number of horfes ufed in hufbandry are nearly," fays the 

 writer, " 1,200,000. If half this number were to be fuper- 

 feded by oxen, in the proportion of two oxen to one horfe, it 

 would require 1,200,000 fueh cattle to do the fame quantity 

 of labour as is now done by 600,000 horfes. The difference 

 of -thefe two numbers would be an increafe to that extent of 

 our labouring cattle. The other 600,000, in the place of 

 To many horfes, as well as the increafed number, feed in the 

 fame manner as cows, and on a fimilar herbage ; confequently 

 the whole 1,200,000 would deprive us of the means of fup- 

 porting fo many cows. So unwife a meafure would reduce 

 the number of our cows to one-fourth of their prefent num- 

 ber. The veal, milk, butter, and cheefe, would be dimi- 

 nifhed in that proportion ; and in confequence of this fcanty 

 produce of the dairy, the price would be fo exorbitant, that 

 none but the moft wealthy could afford to eat of thefe 

 things. 



" After what has been faid, need I add, that every ox 

 ufed m hufbandry at this time deprives the nation of a cow, 

 and of all the comforts which that animal is calculated to 

 beltovv. The introduftion of oxen, to do one half the la- 

 bour now done by horfes, would deprive the labourers of 

 the greater part of their diet : a dearth would be the inevit- 

 able confequence, until the numbers of our people were 

 reduced to equal the fcantinefs of their food, or until the 

 oxen could be fattened and flaughtered, to make way for 

 the return of the more valuable cow. Hereafter I fhall 

 expetl tlie farmers in theory only, who are advocates for 

 ox-teams, to change their notes, and write in favour of a 

 team to be drawn bv cows." 



Upon the whole, the writer is of opinion, that the vci y 

 few advantages which oxen polfefs are not by any means of 

 fuch confideration, as to compenfate for the damage which 

 their being ufed would do upon fome kinds of land ; nor are 

 they fo proper for the general purpofes of a farm as horfes, 

 and the general fubftitution of labouring oxen in lieu of 

 horfes would be vatlly injurious to the nation. 



It is allowed that thofe who have argued in favour of the 

 fuperior advantage of oxen may be corretl in all their rea- 

 fonings, fo far as they are deduced from their own ex- 

 perience ; but that the experience of others may furnilh 

 arguments as flrong on the other fide. Circumflances vaiy 

 in every diflrift, and render the good or the bad of any 

 praftice altogether relative. In the county of Cheflei", for 

 inftance, the farmer has not only to fallow his corn land, 

 and lead manure to his meadows, but he has often to fend 

 his team to diftances of ten or fifteen miles, to take his corn 

 to market, to fetch lime or coal, and for various other pur- 

 pofes, on hard turnpike roads ; and the time in which fuch 

 fervices are performed is to him of effential confequence. 

 Would oxen be as well able to accomplifh fuch journies as 

 horfes ? Are oxen ufed in any county where circumflances 

 are precifely fimilar ? Do not oxen require more reft than 

 horfes ? Will they fland hard work as well ? Are they as 

 ready for every different kind of work on a farm as horfes ? 

 Unlefs thefe queftions can be anfwered in the affirmative, we 

 have to place in oppofition to the faving of expence in keep- 

 ing them, convenience and time, which are as valuable as 

 corn and money. It is alfo further argued, that the dimi- 

 nution in the ufe of corn, from employing oxen, is an objedt 

 of great national importance ; all that the horfe confumes 

 being fo much lofs as the food of man ; and the lofs of 

 animal food, occafioned by the preference given to horfes, is 

 likewife urged. But if, in the fame portion of time, horfes 

 will do more work than oxen, the earth will be enabled to 

 yield a greater produce, and the additional portion of food 

 gained may more than counterbalance what is lofl. The 

 confumption of food, however, is not an argument which 

 fhould be brought forward againft the farmer, who, by 

 every proper ai'tificial means, Ihould be induced to raife the 

 greateft quantity pofiible from his ground. On what prin- 

 ciple is it that the legiflature, by bounties, endeavour to en- 

 courage exportation, when the prices of corn fink below a 

 certain fum ? Is it not that more may be produced, in the 

 ordinary courfe of feafons, thaa the nation can confume, in 

 order to fecure a fufBciency when the harvefts are below 

 their average ? The more horfes are kept, the greater the 

 confumption of corn, and the greater the demand ; and is it 

 not better to have it increafed by fuch means, than by ex- 

 portation ? The horfes, in the year of fcarcity, may be fed 

 entirely on hay or grafs ; and, at all times, their exiftence is 

 fo much real national wealth. May it not be doubted too, 

 whether, if farmers could difpenfe with the ufe of horfes, a 

 fufficient number would, as hinted at above, be reared for 

 the mere purpofes of pleafure or luxury, to anfwer the de- 

 mand of government, in cafes of emergency ? Nuqjbtrs of 

 them, of all defcriptions, whether for tlie increafe of ca\alry, 

 or the draught of artillery, are furely defirable in every 

 country that muft truft its defence exclufively to its own 

 exertions. Even now the breeding of them is attended 

 with fo much hazard, that very many are fearful of encoun- 

 tering the rifle : what then would be the confequence, if the 

 demand was confiderably lelTened ? 



In refpeft to the feeding of teams, whether of horfes 

 or oxen, it is a point that requires much thought, care, 

 and attention ; as where a want of economy prevails, it 

 may lefTen the profits of the fanner in a very high de- 



