A treatise on cattle : showing the most approved methods of breeding, rearing, and fitting for use, asses, mules, horned cattle, sheep, goats, and swine ; with directions for the proper treatment of them in their several disorders : to which is added, a dissertation on their contagious diseases ; carefully collected from the best authorities, and interspersed with remarks / by John Mills, Esq.

  • Mills, John, -1784?
Date:
1795
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on cattle : showing the most approved methods of breeding, rearing, and fitting for use, asses, mules, horned cattle, sheep, goats, and swine ; with directions for the proper treatment of them in their several disorders : to which is added, a dissertation on their contagious diseases ; carefully collected from the best authorities, and interspersed with remarks / by John Mills, Esq. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    his legs are too long, his paces too quick and im- perious, and he Poon frets and tires. Befides, by putting him ro the plough, ws deprive him cf all the agility and fupplenefsof his motions; of all the beauty of his attitude and carriage : for this heavy work requires rather perfeverance than hard la- bour; rather ftrength than fvviftnefs, and weight rather than elafiicity : and accordingly, wherever the companion had been made with any degree of accuracy between horfes and oxen for the labours of the field, and efpec'ally for ploughing, the dif- ference has been found to be considerably in favour of the latter, in every reIpecl but that of fpeed; and even in this article their inferiority amounts to nothing more than being two hours in a d^.y longer at work than horfes : for they perform the lame quantity of work every day, and that too in a bet- ter manner. It is univerfally allowed that they arc cheaper in every fenfe; for they coil lefs when bought, ar-c lefs expensive in their food, their har- nefs, and their (hoeing; are fubject to much fewer diforders, require far lefs attendance, anil at la!t remain fit for fatting when their labours are over, as was before obferved. Yet, firange fatuity! not- withstanding all thefe advantages, they are i'o little ufed at prelent for the works of hufbandry in this kingdom, that, if we may truft to the report of the author of the Six Months Tour through the North of England (a), and fure'y we may coniide in what that gentleman fays from his own perfonal in- quiries and obfervations on the fpot, whole counties in England, which, not many years ago, fcarcely poffeiied a plough-hcrie, now have not a fingle ploughing ox. To account for this very extraordinary and every way highly detrimental change, and at the fame (a] Fol. IV, letter xxxii.