Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1874-05-16
Driving Oxen.

| never had any trouble driving oxen,
though l know a man who'd as soon try
to drive lions as to pick up whip and
undertake to ''haw Buck" and "gee
Bright"
Always commence right with oxen.
They don't appear tendcr-hearted, and
don't seem to the casual observer to be
longing for sympathy, but oxen have
feelings which must be consulted If
you want to yoke up your oxen, take
approach the starboard OK. If he
moves away, throwing his heels in the
air, turn about and approach the other,
for in the long run it doesn't make a
cents worth of difference which OK is
yoked up first, though there are men
who always pull on the left boot first,
and would persist in it if the house was
on fire.
If the larboard OK runs away, don't
throw the yoke mt him, and Jump up
and down and howl. You can't throw n
yoke over twenty rods Mt the most, and
the chances are you wculdn't hit him.
Take TIE yoke on your back again and
saunter across the pasture toward the
first OK. Approach him as if you didn't
care cent whether you got the yoke on
him or not. Let your face wear IA smile,
and whistle some careless air. If he
shows disposition to run away, don't
go to bowling:
"Whoa there-hold on-Fll kill you
blast your eyes-hold on -
Keep up your indifferent demeanor,
and in about one hour and half you
can put your hand on the OK. Rub his
back and speak encouraging words to
him, and let him see that your are his
true friend. In little time you can
put the yoke on him, and then start off
after the other OK on the far side of the
field. If he makes a bolt for the barn,
preserve your careless air, and, above
all, don'tpound the OK you have already
secured. By a persistent exercise of
patience, you can get the pair yoked up
and ready for business by ten o'clock,
If you commenced early enough. Don't
chain EN- up to a stump and maui 'em
with a rail after you have them in your
power seek to conquer by love rather
than force.
Few farmers know how to draw out
the full strength of Il pair of oxen on n
dead pull. They set the team off with
a yell, kick one, pound the other, scream
at both, jump over the log and whoop,
and the result is that the bovines Jerk
and Jump and waste their strength.
The right way is to send them off
gently. Pretend that you are unhitch-
ing the chain to go home, and you don't
know how much this will encourage
them. When the chain is taut, and the
oxen are ready for the pull, give them
a kind word, tell them their motto
should be Excelsior" and that En-
gland expects every man to do his duty.
Don't throw rocks at them. An expe-
rience of forty odd years has convinced
me that nothing will discourage an OK
so quick as to hurl stone quarry at
him when he is doing his level best to
accommodate you.
In driving oxen before a wagon, don't
carry bean-polc with a brad awl fast
ened into the end. The OK is not as
swift on foot as the antelope or gazelle,
and they shouldn't be made to gallop
over ten miles without rest There is
nothing so good to rule the brute crea-
ton as kindness. The true farmer WILL
if necessary, sit up all night with pair
of wild oxen, giving them kind advice,
explaining matters, and rubbing their
spinal columns with cob to bring out
their gentle natures and win their CON
tidence and esteem.-.M Q"ad.