Green Mountain Freeman

Teams on the Farm. - As a general thing a span of horses will plough over more ground in a day than a yoke of oxen, because they walk faster, yet occasional exceptions to this occur. We remember to have aided in turning over a fallow of twenty acres, in which a span of horses and a yoke of oxen were employed. It was decided to test their relative capacity for the work, both teams being allowed their natural gait. Equal sections of land were allowed to both teams, and the oxen came out invariably a little ahead, gaining time at each turning of the corners. They were then tried on the same lands for a day, with no marked advantages on either side. These oxen were broken to the work, held their heads well up, and marched along with a steady, stately step. In this particular instance the oxen were better for ploughing than the horses, for the simple reason that, performing equal work, they cost less for keeping, and were more readily prepared for labor.

Where the field operation is at a considerable distance from the barn or pasture, the horse would have the advantage in the celerity of his movements in reaching it. As a general thing, the summer season through, horses can do more work than oxen for this reason, if no other, they can stand the heat better. Both are important on a considerable farm, and if the ox is found to be worth the most when age suspends labor, the horse will have made up the difference by the celerity of his movements and the more diversified uses for which his labor has been made available. Both are good in their places and no extensive farmer is properly equipped for business who is destitute of either. - Lewiston Journal