Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1902-01-16
DISAPPEARING WORK OK.

| 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 a 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
with profit, while those who i'm
mediately followed with large ventures
of high priced breeding stock found
themselves overstocked with expens-
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.
l 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
a 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 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 a pair
Of horses suitable for the draught re-
quired, say from 1900 to 5000 pounds
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. | turned to
market last season a pair of oxen
which l had kept because of their de-
sirable working qualities, being re-
liable to plough and do any such work
as that without an extra man to drive
till ten years Of age; and when they
left my farm they girthed 7 feet and
10 inches each, and at that size |
could work them on the lead of my
fast walking farm horses, and they
would hurry the horses above their
normal speed.
The old fashioned OK was proverbial-
ly slow, because of both breed and
training; but there is as much ad-
vantage in a thoroughbred OK as in a
trottlng horse; there are many places
where an OK team is even better than
the average horse team; and | am
convinced that much of the objection
raised against cattle to work is only
the exclamation of a teamster who
has got too lazy to walk and wants a
team with which he can always ride:
but | warn you against this same man
for horse driver.
The farmer in New England whose
stock for his farm is made up of a lot
of horses and one or two cows is gen.
orally hard up for money, while his
fields appear scared and brown when
they should be green and luxuriant.
The farmer with a nice stock of cat
tie and just horses enough to make
his machinery profitable has good
credit, wears smile, and will shake
you glad hand when you meet
A. J. Hamm, New Hampshire.
WILL HUxLEY'S WORKS LIVE?