Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1829-07-06
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE OK
AND HORSE.

From a sketch Of Bedford County, Pennsytp.D
ma.
Oxen are decidedly preferable TO horses on
n fnrm on many accounts / hey can aud ought
o be broke al two years old, From hence e.
the age II thee, they more than earn their
feed. From thence TO four, they can haul logs
and rails, plough aud harrow, indeed do all the
drudgery OF the farm. From thence I'LL 10, n
good yoke of oxen can draw more than three
horses and they take steadir heavier drag
up hill than horses AZ any time from TO 10
they may be put up and fed, aud sold 10 the
butcher AZ a great price, and more profit Than
if sold al an earlier age, provided they have
been worked. They are not subject 20 the
maladies aud casualties OF horses. More hors-
es die from folding TO the age of ten, than cat.
lie from cslying TO the same age. The bold.
icry. impsteni spirit Of a horse, subjects him
TO a thousand danger. Of life and limb, even
when at large in the field, from which the mod
crate. grave, patirnt, circnmspeci OK is exempt.
But when the noble animal is backed by
thoughtless, inexperienced or bruia al owner, or
driven in a wagon or plou5h, by scoundrel
hireng, he is broke down in limb, wind and
tendon he becomes ever after miserable
mass OF existence. joylesS in himself aud a bur
then to his owner.
Tn gears Of an OK cost comparatively moth
ing. From the time he is calved I'LL he is So.
ven years old he is improving in value. He is
then Of prime age for slaughter. HIS labor
has paid his keeping twenty times over. After
his DAYS tod is ended he will soon fill himself
in cioverHeld and repose con,ented ill morn
ing. lie may be biched up at breakfast and
" ork tilI dinner. A little cut straw mixed viii,
chopt oats or corn will enable him 10 pursue
his Toll ill night, when he seeks his field again
and troubles his driver no more. Should he
lose an eve, his value is not diminished Should
leg he broken or n ioint dislocaled, he can
be fated and sold ~ IA high price as II no in
jury had been sustained lf farmer reises
stock instead Of keeping pack OF idie bruies
about him for 6 OF 7 years. thai consume two
or three times more than they sci! Tor, let him
yoke them up. put his boysro plough, harrow
haul rails, &c. and he converts them into pro
ductive, valuable animals, which he ca,I con
vert into cash nj any moment, after haying
more than cleared their cost by their labor.
But we cannot work oxen in winter. because
we cannot get them Shod. Oni blncksmiths 40
not know how, and will not learn, because fhey
think il degrading to sho" an or. The Green
mountain BOYS AID Now Workers, however,
think nothing Of crossing Champlaih on the
ice with heavy loads drawn by large oxen well
sbod and they think il not NJ all disrepuiab bic
to pay their debts, enrich their lands and
grow wealthy by exchanging horse labor for w
labor.
If a horse Loses an eye or gets his wind
broke, his value is materially diminished. II
he breaks hone or dslocates a joint, his value
is estimated by what the tanner will give for
his hide, and the labor Of taking il off is to be
deducted,
good yoke of lean oxen may be had for
$40; pair ofgood young horses will cost
5000 The gears OF oxen, a log chain and
yoke, cost abont SO, and with care will lasi a
life without mending. The gears of pair Of
| horses cannot he had for less than SIS. They
require constant mending, and in few years
most be renewed. horse is at his prime a,
seven years old, and fails at ten, and you cant
eat him. For horses the oat.bin and chop,.
chest are in eternal requisition. Oats or corn,
morning, noon and night, or chopi rye morn.
! ing, noon and night. IL horse is worked and
not well fed. in a few days this bold, active
powerful animal is transformed into a looomo
tive bag of bones, and in a few days more, thai
bag of bones is reduced TO an inanimate car
rion, which every living thing bu, starving
wolf would loathe. To supply the eternal de
mand for grain which the constitution of {
horse renders necessary, the man must CO. th,
plough must 60, the harrow must 81, the hors'