Soule: The Ox/Bull Mystery Is Solved

Last week I wrote about calling a steer a bull. I was told that was insider slang for oxen, but an email from Art Pease made me wonder. This week Art shared this message from a man who worked oxen teams long ago.

"I don't know when the reference to steers and oxen as bulls started; I know it was very well accepted and used in the New England ox pulling community when I pulled cattle in the '70s. The generation ahead of me used it at that time. The generation behind me continues to reference steers and oxen that pull as bulls. My guess is, it makes them sound more masculine? Regardless, the terminology is well-rooted in the Northeast pulling community for over half a century."

My Super-Power

It's sweet that teamsters want their activity to seem more masculine as if commanding a few thousand pounds of oxen to pull a heavy load is not macho enough. I work oxen, and whatever you call the yoked beasts, I think of controlling them as my super-power.

Now let's talk about my cows' super-power; giving birth. It's April, and that means 12 bundles of joy are due. Nine months ago, Blain, the bull (yes, he is all bull), was pastured with the Highland cows while Larry (a Hereford bull) wooed the Hereford and Angus girls. All are pregnant and due soon.

Flora, The Puppy, Update

It would be ideal if the calves were born a day or so apart, but they may arrive the same day.
Meanwhile, my rescue puppy, Flora, is learning how to be a farm dog.

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Carole Soule is co-owner of Miles Smith Farm, in Loudon, N.H., where she raises and sells beef, pork, lamb, eggs and other local products.