OF SCOTLAND.

201

particular situations, but none of them contend for the totaldismission of horses.

It is allowed on all hands, that they are unfit for distantcarriages, and the actual practice almost confines their la-bour to the plough. They are less fit than horses even for har-rowing, from the slowness of their motion. In frosty weather,which often continues for two months and more, at differentperods of the winter, while the horses are fully employed inhome and distant carriages, the oxen are idle in the straw-yard *. On turnip-land farms, where there is no summer-fallow, there is seldom any ploughing from July to October;and the horse-lioeing of the turnip crop, in which oxen maybe employed, occupies but a very inconsiderable portion ofthat interval. But this is the period when very great exer-tions must be made by horses, and so much the greater inproportion as the whole of the labour falls upon one branchof the labouring stock, instead of being equally divided a-mong the whole teams, as is the case where no oxen areworked. From this it follows, that a greater number ofteams, and also of ploughmen must be kept, than if thewhole labour was performed by horses. Instead of six pairof horses, it would be necessary, if one-third of the plough-ing and harrowing was done by oxen, to keep five pair ofhorses, and two teams of oxen. On a farm situated nearmarkets and manure, the number of distant carriages is in-deed greatly diminished; but in such places, potatoes, tur-nips, grass, and hay, are so much more valuable than oats,that it is acknowledged the employment of oxen 'near townswould be unprofitable. It may be thought that labour maybe so divided, as to give constant employment to oxen inthat sort of work for which they are best adapted : they mayplough, it has been said, while the horses are bringing home

* West-Lothian Report, App. p. 289