They should at first be placed behind a pair of well-broke cattle, nor should they be put to hard labor until quite grown, strong, and perfectly accustomed to the yoke. If properly managed, cattle may be trained with all the docility, intelligence, and much of the activity of the horse. That they are not, is more frequently the fault of their masters. Management of Oxen. To procure perfect working cattle, it is necessary to begin with the proper breed. Many parts of the country furnish such as are well suited to this purpose. A strong dash of Devon or Hereford blood is desirable, when it needs to be improved. A well-formed, compact, muscular body; clean, sinewy limbs; strong, dense bones; large, well-formed joints, with a mild expressive eye, are essential for good working oxen. After breaking, they must be led along gently, and taught before they are required to perform their task; and never put to a load which they cannot readily move, nor dulled by prolonging exertion beyond that period when it becomes irksome. A generous diet is necessary, to keep up the spirit and ability of cattle, when there is hard work to be done. The horse and mule are fed with their daily rations of grain when at hard service, and if the spirit of the ox is to be maintained, he should be equally well fed, when as fully employed. Great and permanent injury is the result of niggardly feeding and severe toil, exacted from the uncomplaining animal. His strength declines, his spirit flags, and if this treatment be continued, he rapidly becomes the stupid, moping brute, which is shown off in degrading contrast with the more spirited horse, that performs, it may be, one half the labor, on twice his rations. The ox should be as little abused by threats and whipping, as by stinted feed and overtasked labor. Loud and repeated hallooing, or the severe use of the lash, is as impolitic as it is cruel and disgraceful. We never witness this barbarity without wishing the brutes could change places, long enough at least to teach the biped that humanity by his own sufferings which his reason and sensibility have failed to inspire. Clear and intelligible, yet low and gentle words are all that are necessary to guide the well-trained, spirited ox. The stick, or whip, is needed rather to indicate the precise movement desired, than as a stimulant or means of punishment. The ox understands a moderate tone more perfectly than a boisterous one, for all sounds become indistinct as they increase. It is of great advantage to have oxen well trained to _backing_. They may soon be taught, by beginning with an empty cart on a descent; then on a level; then with an increasing load, or uphill, till the cattle will back nearly the same load they will draw.