110 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Shall we us 8 Horses or Oxen ? 
The question is often asked, which of the two, 
horses oi oxen, is most profitable for farm work ? 
We do not propose attempting to settle the point, 
but simply to state some of the pros and cons, 
leaving our readers to strike the balance. 
The advocates of oxen say that the first cost of 
a yoke of oxen is not more than half that of a span 
of good working horses. And then, the wagons,, 
harness and other rigging necessary for horses is 
twice as expensive as the outfit needful for oxen. 
The expense of keeping oxen is much less than of 
horses; less by one-third, say some. One can 
hardly enumerate the accidents to which horses 
are subject; the diseases wffiich prey upon them 
are about as numerous as those which afflict the 
human family, and have to be continually provided 
against and treated with medicine. If they are 
young or spirited, none but a trusty teamster can 
manage them. The owner must be constantly 
on the watch, or they will be taxed beyond their 
strength or driven beyond their natural speed. 
And then the wear and tear of harnesses, wagons, 
shoes and other rigging, is considerably great¬ 
er with horses than with oxen. As to the work 
done by oxen, there is hardly anything which 
they can not do as well as horses ; and some kinds 
they will do better. Heavy work, such as haul¬ 
ing out manure, logs and rocks, and plowing stony 
lands, and breaking up stiff fallows, all work which 
requires a strong and steady pull, they do better 
than horses. Some persons complain of their 
slowness in work, and their lack of endurance; 
but it is claimed that such farmers stint their cat¬ 
tle in good fodder, and in other respects treat 
them with neglect. Give them warm, clean and 
well aired stables, and plenty of generous feed, 
so as to keep them in good flesh, and it is believed 
tnat they will do as much work, annually, as 
horses. 
In this enumeration, it should not be forgotten 
that the manure of oxen is more valuable than 
horse dung; that oxen increase, in value until 
they are twelve years old, and after that may be 
lattened for the butcher. When horses are twelve 
years old, they depreciate in value rapidly, and 
soon become a burden. 
The advocates of the horse claim, on the other 
hand, that while the first cost of an ox-team is 
considerably less, the expense of keeping is about 
the same, if both are well fed ; and, that the horse 
will do more work, and on the whole, 
more satisfactorily, than oxen. A good pair of 
working oxen will weigh 3,000 pounds, and a good 
span of working horses, 2,000 pounds; is it, then, 
reasonable to suppose that it will cost any more to 
support the 2,000 pounds of flesh than the 3,0001 
As to drawing heavy loads, there are, indeed, 
cases in which ox-strength is the most service¬ 
able; but ordinarily, a span of heavy, well-trained 
horses will do every thing required on a farm. 
It is generally conceded that in very warm weath¬ 
er, the horse has greatest power of endurance. A 
yoke of oxen can not be divided in working, but a 
span of horses can. One can work, while the 
other is resting; one can be rode or driven away 
on errands, while the other is plowing out the 
corn ; or two teams can be made of one span, for 
raking hay, &c., &c. It can not be denied that 
horses will plow a field quicker than oxen. It is 
also proved by experience that a yoke of oxen 
can not be worked hard and fed high loi more 
than two years in succession. The third Sum¬ 
mer, they will lose their appetite and strength, 
and must be turned out to pasture. 
Every farmer, too, wishes often to ride with his 
family to town, to church on the Sabbath, and 
throughput all the neighborhood on business or 
pleasure ; but Buck & Bright would hardly an¬ 
swer this purpose. A good span ofhorses is one 
of the greatest delights of the farmer’s sons; 
without this source of enjoyment there would be 
far fewer attractions in a life of agriculture than 
there are at present. 
Fig. 1. 
Making Bush and Root Pullers. 
The publication of the above engraving in the 
January Agriculturist , page 13, has called out sev¬ 
eral enquiries from distant Western subscribers for 
specific information as to the dimensions of the 
parts of the implement. In order to answer these 
questions we have made the following diagram in 
outline, and give the figures from actual measure¬ 
ment of one before us. 
The hooks (G,) are first made separately, from a 
bar of iron, say li inches wide and i inch in 
thickness. Neither of the above engravings give 
the exact form of the hooks—they are now 
made of uniform size throughout their entire 
length, saving that at C, they are hammered out 
to a blunt point. Three or four or more of them 
are placed side by side at E, but bent so as to 
spread apart about 6 inches at D, and about 3 
inches at the points. At E, the flat ends are par¬ 
tially welded and flattened on the side to a wedge. 
The wedge end is embraced by a half ring or 
staple, F, of 1 or 1£ inch iron, round. This is 
placed upon the ends of the bars, the whole en¬ 
circled with a strong band say 2£ inches wide, 
and the band staple and bar ends are then weld¬ 
ed solid, leaving the ring on F, for attaching the 
chain. The outside length of the bars from the 
band E , to the point C, is 32 to 34 inches. Dis¬ 
tance from B, to F, 25 inches. From B, to E, 
20 inches. From C, to JD, 14 inches, outside 
measure. From C, to E, direct, 16 inches. From 
F, to E, that is from outside of staple to inside of 
band, 5 inches. 
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Mad Itch in Cattle. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
Will some one give the farmers In this region 
of country some information through the Agricul¬ 
turist concerning a peculiar disease among cattle, 
known here by the name of Mad Itch. This fatal 
disease made its appearance among our cattle on 
the 17th of September, and in twe weeks destroy¬ 
ed nine head, worth between $200 and $300. It 
is a very uncommon disease here, and there is a 
great diversity of opinion respecting it. The gen¬ 
eral belief is that it is caused by allowing the cat¬ 
tle to eat the chewed wads which the ho^s leave 
after feeding on green corn stalks. Our cattle had 
been running with the hogs thus fed—a unfversa' 
practice in this country—but whether that pro 
duced the disease or not I am unable to say. I. 
it did, why did it never kill them before, or why 
are not others’ cattle killed that were fed in like 
manner 1 
The symptoms of this disease are very strange. 
It commences with a slight spasmodic jerking ol 
the under jaw, so slight at first that it would hard¬ 
ly be noticed. The animals commence rubbing the 
side of the head at the same time, gently at first, 
but it soon becomes more frequent and violent. 
They now refuse to eat, froth at the mouth, the 
eyes become wild and glassy, and they appear to 
suffer much, walking continually when not rub¬ 
bing their heads. The jerking now is so violent, 
as to almost throw them off ther feet, and they 
rub their heads against every stone, stump, or 
tree they meet, pressing with all their strength and 
rubbing until they bellow with agony. They con¬ 
tinue thus until the side of the head, nose, and 
joints are a mass of blood and jelly to the bone. 
The head and jaws generally swell to a great size. 
They finally become exhausted, lay down and die 
in about 36 hours from the time they were taken. 
If some of your correspondents can give us an in¬ 
sight into the cause and remedy, you will greatly 
oblige, with many others, your humble correspond 
ent and subscriber. John W. English. 
Auglaize Co., O. 
— - --=•©——> - 
Another Feeding Rack 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
I suppose the reason our reading farmers com¬ 
municate so little of their experience, is because 
they consider many things connected with their 
own operations too simple or trifling to be publish¬ 
ed, and did I follow this first prompting, I should 
not now write. [We are glad you did not and hope 
others will not.—E d.]. I have seen several kinds 
of “ Feeding Racks ” in the Agriculturist, and I 
here give a rude sketch of the kind I use. 
The six upright posts are 4 or 4J- feet high. The 
board running around the bottom is 16 inches wide; 
the tw r o side pieces 12 feet long, and the end 
pieces 6 feet long, which makes the rack or box 
12 by 6 feet, and 4 or 4£ feet high, with two di¬ 
visions made by the cross pieces in the middle. 
The board running around the top is 12 inches 
wide. The whole nailed together, as seen in the 
sketch, makes a strong affair. The top boards 
prevent the underlings from being driven headlong 
into it and breaking it to pieces, as occurs occa¬ 
sionally with those previously recommended. The 
cattle being obliged to thrust their heads in to feed, 
there is no hay or fodder wasted whatever. Be¬ 
sides, the top board makes an excellent rubber for 
beef cattle while in the yard. I have, of course, 
rubbing posts, but for the top of the neck this is 
admirable. It may also be roofed and bottomed 
if thought desirable, in a very simple manner, and 
still not destroy its portability. Geo. Hill. 
Lycoming Co., Pa., Feb. 19, 1858. 
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A Charming Country. —A large portion of the 
swamps of Florida are said to be capable of pro¬ 
ducing 500 bushels of frogs to the acre, with alii- 
gators enough 'br fencing. 
