THE CULTIVATOR 
67 
cer, and a great lathy, porous-boned and flabby-fleshed dray 
animal. As a general rule, I will freely say, that I find but 
two distinctive qualities in them, and these are viciousness, 
and a total want of adaptation to either saddle or harness. I 
trust that I shall be excused the freedom of my remarks on 
this subject, for I am only reiterating what every breeder of 
horses here frankly confesses; and as a finer region does not 
exist than the uplands and rolling country of the west for the 
production of these noble animals, I do most heartily desire 
to see people, when disposed to raise horses at all, grow 
good ones. The services of well bred northern trotting stal- 
Eons, with handsome figures, fine action, great endurance and 
strength, with good size and quiet temper, may be secured at 
ten dollars per mare; and with just this additional outlay to 
the stock grower, he can produce a good animal from fair 
common mares, at a cheaper rate than the miserable dull or 
vicious unenduring brutes that are but a curse to the country. 
Of horned stock here, the common kinds are, as is too fre¬ 
quently the case at home, ring streaked, speckled and gray, 
with black, dun, yellow and bay, their quarters consisting, in 
a big wiry tail, and a sharp crowning rump, that will take on 
fat with the same avidity as Pharaoh’s lean kine did of old, 
and probably make about the same return for their keep, but 
I am happy to qualify this flattering observation, by adding 
that I frequently see scattered over the country a touch of the 
beautiful Devon and large Hereford cross of New England, 
together with a fair mixture of Galloways, Dutch, Muley, &c. 
&c., fair animals enough, but no larger or better of their age, 
than with us. But the moment you throw in a Durham cross, 
the milder climate and consequent longer run at grass, begins 
to tell, and two year olds of this description, will be as large 
as northern three year olds of the same blood, and at three 
and a half and four years the cows fully mature, and are as 
large as good sized oxen, with deep full fat quarters, wide 
loins and expanded udders. Why will our farmers be so 
slow in adopting improvements, and keep on toiling for grain 
and grass, to then almost literally throw it away, on a breed 
of animals that will give them but half the return in beef and 
milk for their products, that a better race would. They can 
now buy Herd Book Durham bulls at a reasonable price, and 
good grade ones from | up to 31-32, from $50 up to $150, ac¬ 
cording to age and quality, and I ask again if they cannot 
afford a full bred, why then take a. high bred for a commence¬ 
ment. 
The sheep that I see here, are superb of all kinds, common 
or what not. They get a full belly, and show their keep most 
advantageously. One would naturally think most of the land 
too rich and level for them, but such does not seem to be the 
case; and I believe as a general rule, they are healthier here 
than with us, and certainly all kinds grow larger and look fi¬ 
ner, I mean with ordinary farm keep. I have seen Saxons, 
Merinos, South Downs, Leicesters, and so on through the 
whole list, with all sorts of crossings, and all look well, but 
farmers are rather careless about preparing their wool for 
market, and do not consequently get as high price for it as 
they otherwise might; and as to mutton they do not seem 
to think much of it for the table, and prefer pork. Now this 
is all wrong, for it is a much healthier meat, and to my taste, 
much more palatable—indeed I may say, that I am a sort of 
a Jew on the article of pork; and though I breed pigs, I scarce 
ever eat of them, so that here is a confession prefaced by a 
recommendation, that as I do not own a sheep’s head, people 
will allow me to be disinterested in making, 
Swine are pretty much all the go and thought of here, and 
abound of every name and nature, from my very particular 
and amiable friends, Messrs. Alligator and Landpike, up to 
the quiet gentlemanly Chinese, and lordly aristocratic Berk¬ 
shire ; the former however, being the most numerous, may be 
said to be the Democracy of the country, and no offence 
meant in the use of the term to the thin skinned demagogues, 
who have such an ardent love for the people—that is of them¬ 
selves, place and power. Between these, there is a middle 
rank, of which the Byfield, Leicester,. Woburn and Irish Gra¬ 
zier crosses predominate; making quite a fair class of animals, 
the Byfield being the best. I have also seen some of the Rus¬ 
sia bred, a pretty good hog of medium size and prick ears. 
His skin is thick, with bluish spots on it, hair thin, but very 
coarse and of a white color. lie is said to be a quick feeder, 
but I should think if what I saw are the genuine thing, the 
meat must be coarse grained, and somewhat inclined to tough¬ 
ness. Yet of all this, I wish to speak under correction. 
Manner of Feeding Stock in Ohio. 
Of the manner of feeding stock here, I do think too ex¬ 
clusive use is made of raw corn. It is one of the best of 
grains undoubtedly to finish off a fatting lot of stock, but to 
keep them along in store order it lacks bulk, and is too stimu¬ 
lating. Machines have been in use here to break up the corn, 
cob and all, into meal, but they have proved so defective as to 
rather prejudice the farmers against them. I suppose that 
they lack strength in many of their parts, and are also some¬ 
what too complex in their construction. If some of the east¬ 
ern machinists would turn their attention to this subject, and 
make a machine that is both strong and simple, and of a rea¬ 
sonable price, he could not but soon gain a fortune here, in 
vending them; the demand in this immense fertile region of 
the southwest,-would be almost unlimited. They are also 
greatly in want of a strong, powerful machine to cut up corn, 
stalks and all, something upon the principle of a hay cutter, 
but the demand for these would be much less than for the for¬ 
mer. 
I wish that I could see a chemical analysis of corn cobs. I 
do not suppose that there is much nutriment in them, neither 
is there in straw, but all who have tried meal composed of the 
cob and the grain, agree that except for the last stage of the 
fatting process, it goes quite as far, and makes as much flesh, 
as the corn alone; of this I have not the slightest doubt, pro¬ 
vided it is mixed up with a sufficiency of water, and allowed 
to slightly ferment before feeding; and as a corroboration of 
this opinion, I will here give the details of a little experiment 
that I made at home in Buffalo last summer. 
I had twenty-two Berkshire swine in a small pasture during 
the month of August, where the herbage was so completely 
dried up as to give them no feed from it. I accordingly or¬ 
dered them four bushels of raw corn per day, but this did not 
seem to satisfy them, and they were roving about the pasture 
uneasy, and as I soon found, losing flesh. I then took three 
bushels of ship stuffs, (which is the best quality of bran from 
our flouring mills) and divided it equally into two barrels, and 
then filled them up with water. In about 24 hours this swill 
would commence fermenting ; and every day about 1 o’clock 
P. M. the hogs were called up and the whole placed in troughs 
as fast as they would eat, ana they scarce ever could entirely 
finish the whole two barrels of the mixture. They then seem¬ 
ed fully satisfied, and would go and lie down perfectly con¬ 
tented. A bushel of raw corn however, was scattered over 
the grass j ust to amuse them in cracking it the next morning for 
breakfast. On this food the lot gained gradually, and in a 
fortnight from being rather thin, were in as good condition as 
I ever wish to have breeders. They were all sows, young 
and old, weighing from 120 to 400 pounds, Would probably 
have averaged about 250 pounds. The cost of the feed may 
be thus stated: 4 bushels of corn per day, on which the stock 
was growing poor, at 45c. $1.80; 3 bushels ship stuffs, 10c. 
30; 1 bushel corn, 45c., extra time mixing up the swill with wa¬ 
ter and feeding, 25c. $1.00. Making a saving of 80 per cent, 
and that it would be equally great if not greater, with corn 
cob meal thus mixed up, and especially boiled, I have not the 
least doubt. Corn alone gives too much fat inside, without a 
corresponding bulk of flesh outside, which seems to be the 
most necessary material for good breeding. What would a 
man think to be fed on pork alone ? Would he not daily crave 
bread and vegetables? Indeed, it is doubtful to my mind, 
whether he would not sicken and die under such a regimen. 
Root crops ought to be grown here more than they are. Land 
that will yield 50 bushels of corn to the acre, would turn out 
at least 300 bushels of potatoes, or 600 of beets, carrots, pars- 
neps or ruta baga, and the expense of raising and securing 
these last, cannot be greater than that of the first, and four 
bushels of the one, would certainly be equivalent to one bush¬ 
el, with the stalk fodder that accompanies it of the other. 
Feb. 1841. A. B. A. 
Comparative Value of Horses, Mules & Oxen. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker— An apology is due to the 
N. Y. State Agricultural Society, for omitting to report on the 
subject they have twice assigned to me, but it having been in¬ 
convenient to attend the annual meeting when the appoint¬ 
ments were made, they were not sufficiently impressed on my 
mind to draw my attention to the subject in time for their 
meeting the present month. Indeed, in consequence of the 
press of other matters, it was not till now, that it occurred to 
me that this duty was to be performed. So far, however, as 
their object is the publication of the different reports, it may 
be accomplished by the insertion of this communication, but 
with this serious abatement to its usefulness, that it cannot re¬ 
ceive that revision and sanction of the intelligent members of 
the board, that would so materially add to its correctness and 
authority. 
The comparative value of horses and oxen for agricultural 
purposes, has so often been the subject of discussion, and the 
arguments so very correctly and succinctly stated in your 
own paper so lately as March last, that it would hardly seem 
necessary to repeat them here. But there are some conside¬ 
rations connected with this subject, not hitherto treated of to 
much extent, that I will submit to the public, for the purpose 
of eliciting hereafter, such observation and discussion as may 
lead to highly important results. 
In a country so varied as ours in climate, soil, surface, til¬ 
lage, crops, extent of farms, &c. &c., there must necessarily 
be sufficient difference in circumstances, to justify the use of 
both horses and oxen, not only in contiguous, but even on the 
same premises. This assertion will appear conclusive, by 
simply stating the universally acknowledged merits of each. 
These are summarily stated by assigning such labor to the 
horse, as is required to much extent during the hot season, 
where active movements are wanted, and when a load is to 
be removed a considerable distance over a good road. This 
seems to be the extent of superiority claimed for the “ noble 
beast.” The claims of his more humble, but on the whole, 
much more useful competitor, are the smaller amount requi¬ 
red to purchase them, the economy and simplicity of tackle, 
the easiness and cheapness of keep, less liability to disease, 
docility in managing, constant improvement till they have at¬ 
tained a full growth, and their ultimate value when they have 
outlived their working character. These are the generally 
distinguishing characteristics between the two races; though 
it not unfrequently happens that individuals of each approach 
and even cross the line of demarcation, the horse sometimes 
falling below the average standard of ox endurance and speed, 
while the latter if truly bred and properly trained, boldly push¬ 
es his way into the foremost ranks of his prouder rival. That 
a great improvement may result from a strict observation of 
the capabilities and requirements of each, there cannot be a 
doubt. Let'us see the position they respectively occupy at 
the present time. The horses in this and the northern States 
generally are very well adapted to the services they have to 
perform. If we except the French horse, as he is called, (de¬ 
riving his name probably, from his having been almost emire- 
ly used by the French Canadians,) which is a cross of a very 
good European horse on the Indian poney; and is in deser¬ 
vedly high repute as a hardy, serviceable animal, and is very 
extensively used along the State’s side of the Canada lines, 
we have no well defined or distinctive breeds of horses, but 
they are a mixed race, made up from good stallions imported 
from time to time, on our former stock of mares; and in New 
York and New Jersey especially, there has been a high cross 
from the very choicest imported bloods, and to such extent 
has this been carried, that in many sections of these States, 
and several of the others, it will be almost impossible to find a 
native animal now, that is not deeply in the best blood. By 
choicest, it should not be understood, the dandy racers of their 
day, that will run against a streak of lightning provided they 
have little weight to carry, but the strong, serviceable, endu¬ 
ring animal, whose progeny is as well suited to the road and 
plow, as their sires were to the turf. Some of which were Post 
Boy, Messenger, Membrino, Duroc, Eclipse and Bellfounder, 
whose descendants may be found pretty extensively distributed 
over the north, and constitute an invaluable improvement to the 
former respectable stock. This improvement, if universal, 
would probably be all that would be requisite in horse flesh. 
But there still remain a great number not tempered by noble 
blood, with ungainly heads, long sway backs, rough haired, 
coarse jointed brutes, whose bones scarcely possess more 
strength or density than a corn cob; and with muscles more 
resembling a tanned sheep skin, than the wiry sinews of the 
well bred beast, and if these could be at once spayed and cas¬ 
trated, we should secure a double benefit, in breeding fewer 
horses and those of the best kind. 
The question has been much mooted of late in Kentucky 
and elsewhere at the South, (where they have in this exten¬ 
sive section, but two kinds of horses, one good for racing, and 
the other good for nothing,) as to the kind of animal required 
to improve their agricultural horses, and wisely discarding the 
notion of importing some of the old varieties of Europe that 
were formerly held in considerable repute, such as the Suffolk 
Punch, the Cleveland Bay, the Black cart horse, and others 
that have much degenerated of late, whether positively or re¬ 
latively, I cannot say, others having been vastly improved by 
the infusion of better blood; and they have with much good 
sense ordered some of the best stallions from Long Island and 
elsewhere, from the stock we so largely possess, and from 
them they will soon acquire a valuable race. We of the 
north, require no importation to secure for us better horses 
than can be found in the world for our purposes. We have 
only to select judiciously with more show, or substance, ac¬ 
cording to the fancy of breeders; and from these we can pro¬ 
duce all that is required. 
But we object to the number of horses kept among us. 
They are too expensive a luxury. Food enough is consumed 
by the surplus horses in this country and England, to make 
every individual in them both, entirely comfortable. From 
the earliest days after the flood to the present time, they have 
been a prominent object of pride, as well as engine of con¬ 
quest, plunder and devastation, by every tyrant and robber 
from Nimrod to Napoleon. We cannot wonder then, they 
were so emphatically interdicted to the Israelitish shep¬ 
herds, by the express command of Jehovah himself, for how 
could the narrow valleys of thei'r limited Canaan, have con¬ 
tented them, or supplied half their swarming population with 
food, had they possessed the proportion of horses we think es¬ 
sential to our' necessities ? And no sooner did Solomon com¬ 
mence his career of glory and conquest, accompanied by the 
introduction of an extensive royal stud, imitated no doubt by 
the nobles and grandees of the land, than the nation passed 
under an intolerable oppression, that resulted in the revolt of 
ten twelfths of the people, and soon after, in the subjugation 
and captivity of all. 
We have no hesitation in venturing the assertion, that were 
our present stock of horses reduced to one fourth their present 
number, and the places of another fourth supplied by mules, and 
each put to their required, duties, the remaining labor of the coun¬ 
try would be vastly more advantageously performed by oxen. But 
first of mules. 
It would appear on even a very slight reflection, that in ex¬ 
cluding the services of this humble, but hardy and useful ani¬ 
mal, we are annually sustaining an immense loss. Probably 
it would not be overstating the case, to say that with little groom¬ 
ing, half the attention and feed, and no disease, they will out¬ 
live the laboring lives of horses, and do the whole work of 
each. But that there is great disparity in favor of the former, 
in the amount of labor rendered for the quantity of expense 
bestowed on each, those who have tested both are prompt to 
testify. They are the only beast of labor that can be trusted 
by their masters in the hands of the slaves at the South, their 
hardiness enabling them to live under a usage that would kill 
horses almost as fast as harnessed. They are easily and 
cheaply reared, strong for their weight, hardy, require lit¬ 
tle attention, subsisting on the coarsest herbage, almost 
free from disease, and live to a great age in the full possession 
of vigor and strength, many being found capable of their 
accustomed labor at 35 and 40 years old, and some au¬ 
thentically stated to have attained ages apparently almost in¬ 
credible. Why then, under these manifest and acknowledged 
advantages, are they not generally used ? The whole objec¬ 
tions, after deducting a little for family viciousness, may be 
summed up in one word— pride. Unfortunately for us, those 
we have been accustomed to see, have had more than a due 
proportion of thick muzzle, chunk head, long ears, ewe neck, 
narrow chest, diminutive legs, small body, cat hams, and most 
unprepossessing tails, the result of breeding an indifferent 
jack to the refuse mares of the country. But in a question of 
utility we must school our ideas somewhat, and if we cannot 
quite bring up the mule to the symmetrical elegance and fiery 
spirit of the horse, we can bring them down to think him not 
only not so unsightly an object, but a very valuable and useful 
beast. He has, to be sure, in days of yore, and among na¬ 
tions we deem less tasteful and refined than ourselves, been 
esteemed not only as a beast of burthen, but considered with 
regard among the luxurious, the opulent and the proud : and 
kings, princes, and nobles, from Absalom, (the most courtly 
dandy, and thorough-going demagogue on record, that has as 
far distanced his competitors in the race of lolly, as his broth¬ 
er Solomon has all modern philosophers in wisdom,) to the 
haughty sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, that stand une¬ 
clipsed in later times in the acquisition of territory, wealth and 
glory they made for their country, the mule has received all 
that brute regard and fondness we bestow upon the horse. 
Nor should their taste be too summarily questioned. We 
have seen specimens of this hybrid, with proportions so hap¬ 
pily blended as to challenge not simply our approval, but our 
nigh admiration, standing 16 hands, symmetrical, (for a mule,) 
firm jointed, clean limbed, compact, round barrel, arched 
neck, and a costume varying, through every shade, from a 
light roan to a jet black, and which reflected like a mirror, the 
light from their polished sides, constituting a together a lofty 
bearing, that would effectually silence the pretensions of half 
the legitimate bloods of the land. Such animals could not be 
purchased for $500 per pair, a price not fixed from fancy, but 
from actual experience, believed to be within their absolute 
value. Let the experiment at once be tried, by using some of 
the best Kentucky Jacks on our large blood mares, and a 
salutary change will soon be effected in our northern teams. 
But for moderate farms generally, we think the ox, beyond 
comparison, the most profitable animal to depend upon for 
fieldlabor. He is the natural and almost spontaneous pro¬ 
duction from an indispensable portion of every man's stock. 
He comes almost unbidden to our hands, and is reared with 
little trouble or attention on the coarser products of the farm; 
is liable to few diseases, which are generally understood and 
easily remedied; is domestic, kindly disposed, tractable, pa¬ 
tient, and ever ready to do his utmost; and when he has 
worked through his best years, and attained to a full maturity, 
he is turned into the field to gather up and condense the scat¬ 
tered herbage, and then is prepared to fill up the measure of 
his usefulness, by uncomplainingly yielding up his life to the 
stern and never satiated demands of his master. If rit any 
time in the course of his working days, he becomes disabled, 
he is turned out and fattened, or if kept in good condition, is 
always ready for the shambles. Some years since, I had an 
ox, that through the carelesness of his driver, had a part of a 
hoof crushed, by having a log rolled on it, and finding it im¬ 
possible to staunch the wound, I had him butchered, and dis- 
