'202
ON THE LIVE-STOCK
lime. But a little attention to the routine of labour that hasbeen described, must convince every person acquainted withthe subject, that such a division of labour is impracticable,on the generality of farms. The different branches of labourmust be performed, each of them at the proper season.Ploughing does not last all the year, especially upon dry-land farms ; and upon clays which do not grow turnips, andwhere oxen must be fed on hay, it is admitted that they areunable to do so much work ; ‘f one ox fed with turnips andstraw will do more work than two oxen fed with the besthay and the hay is much more expensive f.
2. A supply of suitable oxen could not be obtained, unlessa great many were reared upon land that can be more pro-fitably employed in alternate rotations of corn and greencrops. This may be no objection in those districts of theisland, where a great deal of the best arable land is retainedin old grass, but, according to the most approved manage-ment of the comparatively small extent of arable land inScotland , it is a very serious one. An ox of the short-horn-ed breed, at the age of three years, has been estimated toconsume a quantity of produce worth L. 20 : 17 : 6, and tobe then of the value of L. 27 : 12 : 6 to the butcher f. Ifthere was a demand for the labour of such oxen, the price ofa lean ox would probably be as high as the last sum, by whichthe breeder indeed might be sufficiently reimbursed; butthe greater extent of land required for the maintenance ofoxen, when put to labour, combined with this advancedprice, would certainly render them very expensive labourers,either to the breeder or the purchaser; and, if bred in suffi-cient numbers by the person who employs them, as mightoften be necessary, would oblige him to change that arrange-ment of his crops which he has hitherto found most profitable.