Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1902-01-13
DISAPPEARING WORK OK.
Disadvantages Attending the Substitu-
ton of Horses on New England Hills.

Disadvantages Attending the Substitu-
ton of Horses on New England Hills.
The time was when nine-tenths of
the farm work in the east was done
with oxen, and horses were kept only
for driving, with little light work.
Then the era of machinery dawned
on the farm, and work by horse power
became more expeditions than by old
methods, leading to the use of more
horses, and the need for cattle material
ly lessened. The first change was an
advantage to the farmer. Many of
the cattle kept were of uncertain
breed, and often Improbable for beef.
Thus many farmers allowed their
stock to dwindle, and some have of
| late kept no work cattle at all, selling
their calves for veal.
In some sections at about the same
time, however, considerable interest
was awakened in fancy Hereford
stock, into which some farmers went
W 4th profit, while those who i'm
mediately followed with large ventures
of high priced breeding stock found
! themselves overstocked with expens-
J i've herds and a fast disappearing beef
market. This discouraged the ma
jority, and when the bottom dropped
out they swore off on cattle altogether.
But within five years the tide has
| been slowly turning, and some have
entered the field with home raised beef
at profit, having eliminated from the
cost of production the extremely high
priced breeding stock; and today a
few fine herds of cattle may be found
in Vermont, New Hampshire and
Maine. This proves that the feeling
in favor of cattle raising is on the in
crease in New England.
| believe it will be better for our
agriculture when more cattle are kept.
We cannot afford to raise timothy hay
to feed cattle for the slaughter at
three or four years of age, but with
the general adoption of the silo, and
the raising of more heterogeneous
foods on the farm, there is a profit
even with the single object of beef in
view.
However, let us look at horses as
they are today, mostly brought from
the west and sold to the farmer at a
price of $3.50 to $500 a pair, at five
years of age With good care and no
accidents they may be kept at farm
work for ten years; then they die, and
the investment has disappeared. Dur
ing the same time you might have
raised from calves and turned at
maturity two yoke of oxen with the
same feed and by proper succession
Of steers be supplied with the work of
pair of seven feet girth cattle all of
the time, and for these two yoke OF
cattle when sold, if of the proper
| breed and care, receive as much as
you paid for the horses.
But if the farmer is good enough to
run successfully a high value horse
team his cattle will correspond in
quality still using our lower figure,
and he is $500 on the credit side Of his
account with the oxen. This is leav-
| ing the work accounts to balance; but
with the present style Of farming this
| cannot be carried to an unlimited ex-
| tent on either side Any we'll ap-
| pointed farm today must have pair
| of horses suitable for the draught re-
| CURED, say from 1900 to 5000 pounds
I weight; but beyond that one pair
there is need of more teams, and here
| is where the cattle proposition pre-
sents itself in a profitable light, on
| the basis Of labor and beef combined.
But one says cattle are slow when
they get large, and not to compare
with horses for work. l turned to
market last season a pair of oxen
Vhich 1 had kept because of their de-
sirable working qualities, being re-
able to plough and do any such work
IS that without an extra man to drive
Il ten years of age; and when they
1T my farm they girthed feet and
. inches each, and at that size
0uld work them on the lead of my
st walking farm horses. and they
Guild hurry the horses above their
1rmal speed.
The OLD fashioned OK was proverbial-
slow, becanee OF boz breed an