12/15/07

From: Hare Krsna dasi (Brunswick, Maine - USA) Hare.Krsna.dasi@bbt.se 
Sent: 19 March 1999 16:59
Subject: Chargers - Energizers for Farms and Ranches

[Text 2175615 from COM]

Here's some additional information on high-strength solar-powered battery chargers. They are designed for fencing for rotational grazing. I'm not sure whether they could be used for other purposes, but it seems like it, since they are designed to recharge batteries. The product description notes that they are used on many Amish farms.

your servant,

Hare Krsna dasi


http://www.kencove.com/charge.htm

From: Rohita (Dasa) ACBSP (New Talavan MS - USA) talavan@com.org 
Sent: 21 March 1999 16:56
Subject: Chargers - Energizers for Farms and Ranches

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On 19 Mar 1999, Hare Krsna dasi wrote:

Here's some additional information on high-strength solar-powered battery chargers. They are designed for fencing for rotational grazing. I'm not sure whether they could be used for other purposes, but it seems like it, since they are designed to recharge batteries. The product description notes that they are used on many Amish farms. http://www.kencove.com/charge.htm 

We have been using for that purpose since 1984, from Kencove since 1988. 
ys,
Rohita dasa
New Talavan

From: Hare Krsna dasi (Brunswick, Maine - USA) Hare.Krsna.dasi@bbt.se 
Sent: 09 June 1999 19:27
Subject: Old fashioned farm implements

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I just found this page with some old-fashioned farm implements from Connors Prarie, Indiana (north-central USA) including an ox yoke. I also noted that they have a linen-making demonstration there -- that means they must have a flax brake to show how they separated the flax fibers.

Is there anyone who is close enough to visit Indiana and tell us about this place?

Also, I was thinking that would be a nice thing for ISCOWP/Ministry of Cow Protection and Agriculture -- to post photos and drawings of different types of ox-power equipment -- yoke, plow, harrow, hay-cutter, etc. I remember what a nice demonstration Balabhadra gave at Gita-nagari a couple years ago, which showed how all these different pieces are used in farming. It would be nice to have pictures of them on a website that devotees around the world could see. This helps them envision the different steps in agriculture. If they can envision it, then they are more likely to actually do it. Thinking, feeling, willing.

your servant,

Hare Krsna dasi


Connor's Prarie farm implements:

http://www.indianapolis.in.us/cp/agimp.html

From: Hare Krsna dasi (Brunswick, Maine - USA) Hare.Krsna.dasi@bbt.se 
Sent: 04 July 1999 00:02
Subject: Drew Conroy on Ox Reins

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Drew Conroy on Ox Reins

Rural Heritage: The Evener 1999, vol 24, no. 2 p. 102

DRIVING OXEN WITH LINES
by Drew Conroy

"I am interested in driving oxen from the wagon, as you would a horse," writes Leo Canuel of Somerset, Massachusetts. "I have seen it done with a nose ring, but I wonder if it can be done any other way?"

Oxen may be driven with lines or without lines. I nearly always train my oxen to drive from behind, by using a longer whip and teaching them to pull a cart on a back road. I usually begin the training by allowing them to walk home, which they do willingly. You must be careful that they don't get away from you, though, as young oxen tend to run on the way home.

In Tanzania most ox teamsters do not use lines. They do just fine plowing beautifully straight furrows, as well as driving on the road. Their cattle are trained to move over to the side when they encounter automobile traffic. They are quite responsive to the voice and directions given by a stick tapped on their rump.

Why do you want to drive oxen with lines? If your goal is to have a hobby team that drives with lines, so be it.

If you want to plow and drive the team while riding in a cart, my answer would be that half the ox teamsters in the world drive from a cart with one person and no lines. Are you not willing or able to train your animals as well as a 12-year-old boy in Tanzania plowing with six oxen? The key to his success may be his need to ox-plow an entire farm. The mount of time his animals spend in the yoke may be more substantial than you are willing to give this endeavor.

If you want to drive with lines because you think you will get better results, don't do it. I judge ox cart obstacle courses every summer and fall, and I have a feeling the results of using lines would fall short of the outstanding performances I regularly see. I have never seen a team with lines that was as well trained as teams I have seen without lines. Most teamsters who use lines spend a lot less time training their oxen, and a lot more time restraining them physically, rather than psychologically. And, if you ever log with your oxen, you'll quickly see no advantage to having lines - I hate jumping out of the way of rolling logs.

As you can see, I am not keen on driving oxen with lines, as doing so is not customary in New England. ***Oxen are not allowed to compete in our shows or fairs with any type of bridle, bit, or nose rings.*** [Emphasis added.]

Yet I have seen people successfully use bits, halters, hackamore bridles, and nose rings. Any of these will work, provided the animals have been trained accordingly. Most of the oxen I have seen with lines are poorly trained. The reins become a crutch for both the team and teamster. Once the animals learn to expect a yank or a tug to turn, other cues become secondary and are usually ignored.

I am convinced that cattle respond more readily to visual cues than to voice or whips. Both the voice and whip, however, work well to reinforce the teamster's will. Since driving lines replace the cues given by the teamster's body position and movements, the teamster must train the animal to respond to the reins rather than to body position and movements.

How do you do it? At some point you must force your animals to move ahead of you and respond to your cues from the lines. This training is similar to any other ox training technique, in that you must be consistent in your requests and directions; the animals must be responsive (not wild and unruly); and you must put in lots of time practicing. The less time spent practicing, the less
you can expect from your team. You could follow any manual for training horses, taking into consideration that cattle are slower than horses and are less tolerant of hot weather. They are also less likely than horses to shy or run away if they are familiar with people and the implements.

Cattle can wear bits. At the Midwest Ox Drovers Gatherings in Michigan, I have met a number of people who train oxen with bits. Most of them are more familiar with horses than with oxen, and find the transition easy. Some are older teamsters who do not like the idea of walking beside their team. As is true for any ox training program, training a team to wear bits is easier when they are young.

Using nose rings is my least favorite method. Although nose rings offer an effective method of control, animals that have their noses yanked on too much become head shy and hard headed. Nose rings are a severe method of restraining. The oxen I have seen with nose rings had little choice but to obey.

In Uganda I saw a rope, instead of a ring, run through the nose. Many of the oxen there learn to lie down in the yoke to resist working, a result of having their noses yanked and of being rushed in the training. 

The reason a bull is controlled with a ring is because this system of restraint causes pain - not the best technique for working cattle. At an ox training workshop in Missouri in 1995, I saw oxen that had been trained to drive with nose rings. At first they seemed to go pretty well, but as the day wore on, they became tired and despite the desires of the teamsters, walked right through a fence while pulling a buckboard wagon.

Halters with reins attached to the nose can give good clues as to what you want, but they offer little control for stopping animals that do not want to stop. A hackamore-type bridle applies pressure to the nose chin, which can be difficult to do simultaneously when you are driving animals.

If you are going to use lines, my advice is to give it a try and stick with it. Oxen act reluctant no matter what training method you introduce, lines or otherwise. I know many horse people who have become frustrated trying to train oxen. Just keep in mind that they are a different beast.

If you go ahead with this control technique, please share your results with us. Few people in the world of oxen use lines - maybe you could teach us all a few things.

*************************************

Drew Conroy, author of the Oxen Handbook, is one of the America's leading experts in ox training. He teaches dairy science at the University of New Hampshire, and conducts ox training course at Tillers International, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He also observes and trains African farmers in ox training as part of Tillers' outreach program. http://www.wmich.edu/tillers/ He is a regular contributor to *Rural Heritage.* http://www.ruralheritage.com/ 

Raised in New England, he is accustomed to seeing some of the most expert ox teamsters in the world, even on a junior level. At our local Topsham Fair, I have seen a 16 year old girl get her team of oxen to walk sideways for about 20 feet, without even touching them. She used only voice commands in a calm tone of voice. That was in addition to many other required maneuvers such as having oxen turn right and left and back up into a small space. The children are not allowed to use a rope of any kind on their teams. They must control them with voice commands and a small stick only.

From: ISCOWP (Balabhadra Dasa & Chaya Dasi - USA) ISCOWP@bbt.se 
Sent: 04 July 1999 14:07
Subject: Re: Drew Conroy on Ox Reins

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Thank you Hare Krsna dasi for sending this most informative text on training oxen. Isn't it quite amazing that the devotees who are proponents of "Cow Protection" use the least recommended method of ox training given by the experts in the field. For years we have been trying to explain that the method of "nose rings" shows the least concern for the oxen and that we as devotees should make the attempt to take a little more time to train the oxen well instead of using short cut methods whose long range results are not as good. But alas, "this quick results, short term benefits" attitude is all part of the general disease that has done a great deal of harm to ISKCON as a whole in all areas of devotional service. However, when it is pointed out there is nothing but, 'How dare you question my devotional service, your offending the devotees!"

All glories to the non political statements of Drew Conroy on what is best for oxen.

Your servant,
Chayadevi

From: Madhava Gosh (das) ACBSP (New Vrindavan - USA) Madhava.Gosh.ACBSP@bbt.se 
Sent: 10 July 1999 13:06
Subject: Re: Drew Conroy on Ox Reins

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The children are not allowed to use a rope of any kind on their teams. They must control them with voice commands and a small stick only.

your servant,

Hare Krsna dasi
 

Great article, thanks for sharing.

The use of a nose ring in oxen is dependent on force for control. Voice commands are dependent on love. Nose rings produce quicker results - voice commands a greater and safer range of possibilities.

On an archetypical basis, ISKCON has relied more on nose rings (the nose ring of "The only access to Krishna is through our authority structure, and if you don't like it you are in maya.").