1848. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
177 
-objection is not fairly made. It is a common practice 
with farmers, during the hurrying season of farm labor 
to grain their horse-teams, and take such other care 
of them, as tends best to strengthen their powers of 
endurance,* while it is a like common practice, to feed 
no grain to their oxen,—tasking their utmost energies 
an field labor during the day, and then leaving them to 
seek in the pasture, between sunset and. sunrise, a res¬ 
toration of their exhausted powers. Such oxen are of¬ 
ten found lolling in the forenoon, and are pointed to as 
illustration of the fact that oxen cannot endure heat! 
Smarting under the lash, irritated by the bawling of an 
inexperienced and cruel driver, with a hot sun over him, 
and a stomach filled with green fermenting food, the ox 
faints at his labor;—and very wise lookers-on, shake 
their heads and say, he can’t stand the heat.” Sage 
conclusion, very! In India and China, in the West Indies, 
in South America, In Spain, every where under the 
tropics, oxen are used for draught, or as beasts of burden, 
and their powers of endurance are as great or greater 
than those of horses. I. S. Skinner, Esq., on the au¬ 
thority of Commodore Jones, says, -the cattle at Na¬ 
ples, employed in drawing timber for the government, 
constantly travel twenty to twenty-five miles per day, 
are as spirited and walk as quick as horses, and ap¬ 
pear mt to suffer from heat more than ahorse. Mr. 
Skinner also says, u the small, pale-red, old field ox 
about Salsbury, in Maryland, will travel twenty-five 
miles in a day, with heavy loads of lumber going, and 
returning empty, over the sandy roads of that region • 
while it maybe affirmed, after particular inquiry, that 
the distance made fey the heavy-bodied, grain-devour¬ 
ing Conestoga horses on the national road, between 
Cumberland and Wheeling, averages not over sixteen 
miles, six horses with loads of from six to eight thou¬ 
sand pounds.” A distinguished Virginia agricultu¬ 
rist says, u A gentleman of my acquaintance had a 
mixed team of horses, mules and oxen.; in each season 
liis horses failed first, the mules next, although both 
were fed upon grain and hay; and the oxen, fed exclu¬ 
sively on hay and grass, finished ih$ crop.” 
When farmers become convinced that oxen, so far 
as farm labor is concerned, are no slower , or very little 
slower than horses, and areas capable of enduring heat, 
at is believed their chief objections to ox teams will be 
answered. To go to mill and to meeting they may 
&eed a horse, and forjob work about their farms a sin¬ 
gle horse and a strong wagon will be found convenient. 
In this connection, the difference in expense between 
■ox teams and horse teams cannot but suggest itself t© 
She farmer. In the original purchase of a reliable 
team, for farm work, the expense may be set down as 
follows 1 
Two horses at$85O0 each, $170 00 Yoke of oxen,.... 
Harness (or the same. 26 00 Yoke and chain,... 
Whiffle-trees and neck yoke, 4 00 Oxcart........... 
Farm or lumber wagon, .... 70 00 
$270 00 
Difference isa favor of oxen, $127. 
.$100 00 
8 00 
. 35 00 
$143 W 
Animals of the horse and .ox kind can be purchased 
cheaper than my estimate, but teams of a less market 
price cannot be called good or reliable teams. The 
(Comparative expense of keeping horse and ox teams, 
and keeping them well, is as two to three; or in other 
words, it costs a farmer one-third more to keep a horse 
than an ox team. In this estimate I make no reference 
to the difference in amount of manure made by the 
©xen, they giving back to the fanner a far greater 
amount than the same number of horses. In the esti¬ 
mate of profit and loss, to the farmer, there is another 
view of this question, which commends itself strongly 
to consideration. His ox-teams, from the age of four 
to eight years, when constantly laboring in his service, 
just as constantly increasing in value. Experience 
having shown that well-fed oxen, when steadily workedt 
increase In weight, as fast as those lying unemployed, 
and when too old for service, with good pasture for a 
short time, are worth their original eost in the sham¬ 
bles. Oxen are also considered less liable than horses 
to diseases of a fatal character, or to those producing 
permanent infirmity. I need not speak of the value! 
of an old, worn-out horse, nor of the total loss which 
is incurred by the owner when his horse fractures a 
limb, or dies from disease. While oxen, when too old 
far the labors of the field, have still a value sufficient 
to replace them by a young and vigorous team; hor¬ 
ses worn-out, or diseased, are worse than nothing! 
Meredith , N. ¥., March 31, 1848. S. A. Law. 
EfcosMestic Economy, Kecipes, 
Preserving Dried Fruits* 
In the M&rcknumber of the Cultivators correspondent 
wishes information in regard to preserving apples and 
other dried fruits, thr-ougk the summer season, so that 
they will not become wormy: 
The most effectual method I know of, is, when the 
fruit is dried and ready for packing away, as you put it 
into the barrel or sack, sprinkle it with whiskey—say at 
the rate of a pint to a bushel. We have tried this me¬ 
thod for a number of years, and never knew it to fail; 
but when w-e neglected it the fruit always became 
wormy. 
We have kept cherries, raspberries and currants for 
two -or three years, perfectly safe in this way : I suppose 
any kind of spirits would answer the purpose, as the 
worms appear to go in for temperance. A Subscriber. 
Another correspondent, who dates at Greenwich, 
and signs u An Old Housekeeper,” writes—I have 
kept them in perfect order for years, by putting them 
into a brack oven, after the bread has been baked, and 
letting them remain all night; afterwards putting them 
into linen bags which are hung up.” 
Another correspondent, G. J. says— 1 11 Keep it from 
the flies. I have kept apples in dry barrels or boxes 
with a piece of burlaps drawn tight over and tacked. 
They would perhaps keep still more safely headed up, 
but I have never tried that, apprehending some danger 
of moulding. Small quantities may be tied up in a tight 
bag and hung up. The same preventive applies of 
course t© eheese, hams, &e. Tie a ham up in a tight 
bag, hang it up by the string of the ham; so that the bag 
will hang loose. If eheese inclines to crack, paste on 
good sound wrapping paper, in the same manner you 
would paste paper on the walls of a room.” 
Recipe for Preserving Toumtos, 
In answer to the inquiry in the April number of the 
Cultivator, as to the best method of preserving the to¬ 
mato, I subjoin the following receipt, which I have tried 
and found perfectly successful : 
Prepare the Tomatoes as for cooking (without sea¬ 
soning, &c.) boil them one hour, then put them in small 
stone jars, cork and boil the jars for 2 hours , take them 
outandseal them air-tight • when opened, season, &c. 
and cook for half an hour. A Subscriber in So. Ca¬ 
rolina. 
Raspberry Vine-gar. -The recipe for this very 
agreeable and useful article in the last number of the 
Cultivator, (page 160,) is deficient in one respect, viz. 
that it does not give the direction “ that the vessel in 
which it is to be made must be china or glass, and that 
no glazed or metal vessel is to be used in making or 
keeping it.” Mixed with water it is one of the most 
pleasant ddnks of summer, and moreover is of singular 
efficacy in complaints of the chest—a spoonful or two 
in a tumbler of water. P. Perth Amboy , N. J. 
