The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-04-05
OXEN FOR A WORK.

LA 040 VA Vi Al IA OOPS =
yoke Of oxen for doing all kinds Of
farm work and numbering, and but
few kept any horses. The farms gen
orally were new, and the fields, except,
ing the. fats along the river, had but
lately been cleared and were full of
stumps and stones, go that oxen, owing
to their cooler temperament and patient
disposition, made much the hardest,
p~leasantest and cheapest team for cuI
tivating. For numbering, skidding
logs, or drawing wood, they were much
handler and pleasanter to use than
horses. They will wade through brush
heaps, and get around in the woods
over logs and rocks, much better than
horses and with lees cutting of roads.
For drawing loads through soft
swampy places or deep mud holes,
oxen are far superior to horses. They
are not so nervous, do not become
frightened if they sink to the knees,
but with calm stolidity they wade
through and draw the load, if possible.
Except in the very hottest weather,
oxen will do as much blowing, harrow
ing, drawing in grain or hay, as horses,
and do it on much cheaper feed. A
good yoke Of oxen will pillow an acre Of
/ sod ground or two acres of stubble in a
day, without any other feed than a
good pasture field at night and a bait
ing of mown grass at oon I have
seen a yoke of oxen and span OF horses
blowing on the same land, each team
drawing it's own plow, and the oxen
kept close up to the horses all day, and
did not seem much tired at night.
An OK, at five or elk years Of age, &C.
customed to labor, will endure as much
hardship AS q mule. Ihave frequently
used an OK team and horse team to-
gether when I wished to plow sod
ground deeply, and they worked to
gether as well as two teams Of horses,
and the bovines endured the fatigue al
as we'll as the equines. The horses had
three feeds of grain per day, the oxen
but one, a mess of cut hay wet and
mixed with meal.
They do not require expensive har
ness, like horses. A good yoke, cost
ing g will last nearly a lifetime with
out repairs, and a g chain with a little
mending will last nearly as long.
Oxen of the Hereford breed are gen.
orally used in the State Of Maine, and
there is no doubt that where heavy
cattle are required for numbering, or
to move heavy loads, the Herefords
and Shorthorns can I'LL the bill" but
lighter and more active cattle are pref
cradle for farm work. The oxen which
were the most popular in this region,
when every farmer used them, were a
deep red, with long tapering horns, and
undoubtedly descended from the De-
Won. In some parts of New England
where oxen are still kept for farm
work, it is said that the Devons are
preferred on account of their ambition
and activity.
A good many farmers have more
work to do at certain seasons of the
year than can be done with one span of
horses, doing it at the proper time and
doing it well. The consequence is that
their farms are not worked to their
full capacity or that the work is too
hurriedly done and, presumably, not
well done. Other farmers, IL order to
cultivate all the land they desire to,
keep two spans Of horses the year
round, but excepting in the spring aud
fall work putting in crops they have
only work enough for one team in the
summer, and not half enough for one
in the winter. Under such circum
stances the extra idle team of horses
will "eat their heads IF" and be of no
profit to their owner. Energetic farm,
ers would like to raise as much from
from their farms as they are capable
Of producing, but they are well aware
that it cannot be done with one team
and as reasonably sure that it will not
pay to keep two spans of horses. lam
OF the opinion that most farmers who
have than 80 acres arabic land
would find it greatly to their interest
to keep q span Of horses and a yoke of
young, active oxen.
A yoke of oxen between 4 and 8
years Of age, where q horse team is
kept, would do all of the extra work
on the farm, IN a feed of hay, corn
stalks, and pasture, without any grain
at all. At 8 years of age, when they
begin to grow sluggish, they could be
sold to the butcher for enough to buy
a yoke of four year Odds to supply their
place on the farm. A span of old
horses when they get past profitable