1853 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
93 
Clje 6ra;ifr. 
Training Steers. 
AVING had some experi¬ 
ence in breaking and manag¬ 
ing oxen, I take this oppor¬ 
tunity of presenting, in an¬ 
swer to one of your corres¬ 
pondents, my mode of trans¬ 
forming the wild and unma¬ 
nageable steer, into the gentle and well-train¬ 
ed ox. The first point is to make them tame and 
gentle. This may be accomplished by feeding 
them out of the hand, and carding them daily. 
They should be approached gently, without yelling 
at them until they are frightened out of their wits. 
After having reduced them to a state of perfect 
docility, a good yoke should be procured, suitable 
to their size and strength. A small pen is neces¬ 
sary to put on the yoke; approach gently with 
the yoke, patting and speaking gently to them 
until you have the yoke on the off steer; then let 
an assistant drive the other under the yoke. 
Their tails should then be securely fastened, to 
prevent their getting the habit of turning the yoke. 
They should be yoked in the morning, and un¬ 
yoked at night—in this manner, for several days, 
until they become accustomed to the yoke. 
The first thing to teach them is, to stop at the 
word of command. This may be done by striking 
them across the face; the blows should be repeated 
until they stop, and then discontinued; by strik¬ 
ing them for every non-observance of the word of 
command, they will soon learn that by stopping 
they will avoid it, and will act accordingly. They 
may be taught then to 1 gee’ and ‘ haw/ by gent¬ 
ly pushing them around. Backing may be taught 
by beginning with an empty cart on a side-hill; 
then on a level; then with an increasing load, un¬ 
til they will back nearly the same load they will 
draw. They should never be put to a load that 
they cannot readily draw, or drilled by prolonged 
exercise beyond the period when it becomes irk¬ 
some. Loud and repeated yelling, or the severe 
use of the lash, is both cruel and useless. Clear 
and intelligible, yet low and gentle words, are all 
that is necessary to guide a well trained ox. The 
ox understands a moderate tone more perfectly 
than a boisterous one, as all sounds become indis¬ 
tinct as they increase. A command should never 
be given unless enforced. Many bear with bad 
tricks for a long time, without even an expression 
intelligible to them—but when patience departs, 
a thorough storm of blows is poured upon them. 
This is the way to ruin every beast; a single blow 
should be given for each offence. 
Working oxen should have their rations of grain 
as well as horses, whenever there is hard work to 
be done. The yoke should be carefully made, and 
set easy, and the bows well fitted to the necks, 
and properly fastened to the yoke. Cattle are lia¬ 
ble to sore necks if used in a storm; their necks 
should be greased, and have respite from work 
until well. With kind treatment and good yokes, 
their necks will seldom become sore. J. Mont¬ 
gomery co., N. Y. 
Saving Fodder. 
There are a number of ways by which foddei 
may be saved during this scarce winter. Racks, 
to prevent treading in the mud, are one; warm 
shelter and clean Utter, to prevent a large con¬ 
sumption merely to keep animals warm, is anoth¬ 
er; chopping up bay and straw, and mixing them 
while feed'ng out, with chopped roots, is another. 
Corn fodder is commonly very much wasted by 
the rejection of the hard stalks in eating—a diffi¬ 
culty which many who have chopped them, have 
failed to remove, in consequence of the great 
length of the cuts which most straw cutters give 
them. In England, hay and straw is cut up by 
machines driven with steam, almost as fine as 
powder—this is still more necessary with the har¬ 
der and coarser stalks of corn. An acquaintance 
drives his stalk cutter with three horses, cuts very 
short, and finds great advantage in it in feeding 
his thirty cows. -«*>—- 
Apples for Stock. 
It will be a long time before there is a surplus 
apple crop in this country,—if farmers only know 
how to use them,—even if large orchards are nu¬ 
merously planted every year. Fruit for market, 
foreign and domestic ; next for home use, as table 
fruit, and for dumplings, puddings, pies, and for 
stewing ; thirdly, for fattening hogs, for which 
they serve an admirable purpose ; fourthly, for 
feeding milch cows, where they prove also valua¬ 
ble, if the quantity is gradually increased from a 
small commencement ; and lastly, they are par¬ 
ticularly useful as fall and winter food for horses. 
The Michigan Farmer informs us, that I. W. 
Ruggles, of Pontiac, raises a large proportion of 
sweet apples, on which he feeds nearly all his do¬ 
mestic animals, and that a neighbor considers 
them nearly as good for horses as oats. We have 
long known them to be fed very advantageously to 
horses. 
Tumors on Cow’s Udders. 
I have in my possession a heifer, two years old, 
that has a bunch growing on the udder, just for¬ 
ward of the teats ; it is a little flattened, an inch 
in diameter, and it is connected to the udder by 
a neck, about the size of a pipe-stem. Would it 
be advisable to cut it off by tying a string around 
the neck? It has been about one month since 
first discovered; at first it was about the size of a 
walnut without the shuck. Will some one please 
answer in next number. J. H. Bryan. Farm¬ 
ington, Ct. —-O'— 
Bots in Horses.' —A correspondent of the 
Southern Planter gives the following, as a simple 
and excellent remedy for bots in horses:—drench 
freely with sweet milk and molasses,, well shaken 
together; continue it, a bottle full every fifteen or 
twenty minutes, according to the severity of the 
attack, until the animal becomes easy; then give 
a quart bottle full of strong salt and water, fol¬ 
lowed soon after with a quart of castor oil. This 
he says, if administered in time, always cures. 
The difficulty is, with many not well experienced, 
to distinguish attacks of the bots from some other 
diseases. 
