ANIMAL FURLONGS AND VEGETABLE MILES - MEAT: A Benign Extravagance - page 178

In the open field farming system of medieval Europe, a carucate , the amount of land
which could be cultivated by an eight ox team, was typically about 120 acres, or 48 hec-
tares. A virgate was what two oxen would cultivate, 12 hectares, which is slightly more
than what most writers allow for a pair of horses. However, the limitation upon what can be
cultivated depends upon the length of the season more than the energy potential of the team.
In the open fields of Anatolia, which until at least the 1950s operated a two course system
similar to the English open field system, a man with a pair of oxen could only plough 10
acres, but this was because of time limits imposed by very short rainy seasons. 34
An open field system still operates in some parts of the world, for example in parts of
Ethiopia. In the Tigray region, according to a United Nations survey, a healthy oxen pair
can plough one hectare in six to eight hours, which seems very fast. In some areas, exten-
sion workers have been introducing a one ox ploughing technique, though this, apparently,
requires lighter soils. 35 Modern animal-drawn equipment is lighter than 19th and early 20th
century equipment and organizations such as Intermediate Technology (now called Practic-
al Action) have attempted to promote the use of more efficient modern horse drawn tools.
A further improvement in the efficiency of bovine traction can be achieved by using
cows, as well as, or instead of oxen - the advantage being that they can also produce milk.
Gandhi, asked to comment on the matter, remarked:
This question was put to me as long ago as 1915. I felt then as now, that if the cows
referred to were used for purposes of ploughing the land, it would not hurt them. On
the contrary, it would make them strong and increase their yield of milk. But this be-
nefit could only come about provided the cow was treated as a friend and not cruelly,
as cattle in our land so often are … Every living being has to work within his or its
limitations. Such work uplifts, never lowers either man or beast. 36
A 1994 comparison of oxen and cow use in Ethiopia concluded that when farming famil-
ies employed milking cows as draught animals, rather than the traditional oxen, production
was improved by 67 per cent, because one animal was serving a dual purpose. Families
had more surplus produce available for sale, but bought-in feed costs and labour costs were
higher. 37
Ethiopia, since it so poor, is perhaps not the best advertisement for the use of oxen in
the modern world. More relevant is the recent experience of Cuba, which is in many ways
a fairly developed country. In respect of education, medical facilities and infant mortality,
it is on a par with the United States. When category IV hurricane Dennis swept across the
country in 2005, the Cuban authorities managed to evacuate 1.5 million people by bus from
its path, while the Great Car Economy coped rather less well with hurricane Katrina when
it hit New Orleans in the same year.