AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
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VOLUME XXX.— No. 12. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER, 1871. 
NEW SERIES— No. 299. 
TRIAL OF WO 
The fast horse lias so generally monopolized 
attention at our agricultural shows, that at the 
New England Fair, held last September, it 
was gratifying to notice the interest manifested 
by the spectators in the trial of working oxen. 
A pair of well-trained oxen are, in their way, as 
well worthy of an admiring crowd as a fleet 
horse, and we are glad to see respectable prizes 
offered for them. The proper training of oxen 
requires much patience on the part of the driv- 
ers and manifests great intelligence on the part 
of the animals. A man can not train oxen 
properly until he has first trained himself in 
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OXEN . — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist, 
RKING 
the ways of patience, perseverance, and quiet- 
ness. Unlike the horse that is guided by rein 
and bit, the ox moves only by word and mo- 
tion. There is something very imposing about 
a well-kept, well-developed pair of oxen of a 
good breed. Every muscle indicates strength, 
and the beasts move with a deliberation and 
dignit^ that convey the idea of immense 
power. Then, when they bend their necks to 
the yoke of the trial load, their expression 
seems to say, " This is nothing to what we could 
do if we tried." We have never seen oxen so 
thoroughly and intelligently use their strength 
as in " stumping " and " logging " upon a Wes- 
tern clearing. They seem to know quite as 
much about this work as their drivers, and to 
lay out their full power just at the right mo- 
ment. For work of this kind they are incom- 
parably superior to horses. For general farm 
uses horses will usually be preferred, but for 
certain heavy labor the ox will always be the 
favorite, and he has the great advantage, that, 
when the time of his utility is past, he can be 
converted into beef. The above engraving is 
from a sketch taken by one of our artists, at the 
trial of working oxen at the New England Fair. 
