The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1874-06-06
FARM AND GARDEN.
Driving Oxen.

[ never had any trouble driving oxen
though know man who'd rs soon Try tu
drive lions as to pick up whip ana unucf
take to 'haw Buck and gee Bright
ALWAYS commence right with oxen. 1hey
don't appear tender. hearted and don't seem
to the casual observer to be longing lor sym
pathy, but oxen have feeling. which must DC
consulted. If you want to yoke up your oxen
take the yoke on your shoulder ana Seh'ly
approach the starboard OK. IL ne moves
away, throwing his heels in the air, turn about
and approach the other, fo- in the long run
il doesn't make cents worth OF difference
which OK is yoked up first, though there are
men who always pull on the left boot first,
stwould persist in ii if the house was on fire
If the larboard OK runs away, don't throw
the woke at him, and jump up and down and
howl You can't throw a yoke over twenty
rods at the most, and the chances are you
wouldn't hit him. Take the yoke on your back
again and saunter across the pasture toward
first OK Approach him rs if you didn't care
whether you got the yoke on him or not, Let
your face wear a smile, and whistle some
careless air. If he shows DISPOSITION to
run away don't go to howiing:
whoa there-hold on-Illk kill you-blast
your eyes-hold on"
Keep up your Indifferent dcmeanor, and in
about one hour and a half you can put your
hand on the OK Rub his back and speak en-
couraging words to him, and let him see that
YOU are his true friend. In little time YOU
can put the yoke on him, and then start OH
after the other OK on the far side OF the helu,
1.-The makes bolt for the barn, preserve your
careless air. and above all dont pound inc OK
you have already secured. BY 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 'em to a stump and maui 'cm
with a rail after you have them III your power;
seek 70 conquer by love rather than by force.
Few farmers know how to draw out the
full strength of pair of oxen on dead pull.
They set the team off with yell, kick one,
pound the other, scream at both, jump over
the log and whoop, and the result is that the
boyines Jerk and jump and waste their
strength The right way is to send them OIL
gently. Pretend that you are unhitching 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 kind word, tell them their
motto should be Excelsior" and that Eng
land expects every man to do his duty. Don't
throw rocks at them. An experience of for
ty-odd years has convinced me that nothing
will discourage an OK so quick as to hurl a
stone-quarry at him when he is doing his
level best to accommodate you
In driving oxen before a wagon, don't car
nv a bean-polc with a brad-awl fastened into
the end The OK Is not as swift on foot as the
antelope or gazelle and they should be made
to gallop over ten miles without rest. There
is nothing so good to rule the brute creation
as kindness. The true farmer will, If neces'
sary, sit up all night with apalrof wild oxen,
giving them kind advice, explaining matters,
and rubbing their spinal columns with a cob
to bring out their gentle natures and win
their confidence and esteem.-N. Quad, IN
Or Pireside friend.