Animal Traction
Animal traction is the use of animals home by Man to:
- the carriage ( horse-drawn vehicle , chariot , cart , sled , pack , riding );
- agricultural work, including plowing ;
- the war ;
- industrial works (such as operating machinery waterwheel , winch or oil mill);
- sport and recreation with competitions and races for teams.
Summary |
Animals in common
- Ass
- The beef is an interesting beast of burden. Indeed, he developed a significant traction and is resistant to stress. If it is slower than the horse, it allows better control of the machine. The possibility of using the bovine carcass late career is an asset in countries where horsemeat is not consumed. The cow may also offer an interesting alternative. It can provide in addition to her work of milk and calves to take over. Nevertheless, his capacity for work is less than that of an ox and has higher nutritional needs History
The use of animal power was not achieved at the same time as its domestication. It is estimated that man has begun to harness cattle to plows and wheeled vehicles during the Fourth Millennium BC. These techniques invented in the ancient Fertile Crescent or Ukraine have subsequently been developing world .
In industrialized countries, the use of draft animals has declined sharply since the end of the Second World War with the development of mechanization ( internal combustion engine and electricity ), and retains a marginal place in tourism.
However, animal traction is still important in sub-Saharan Africa where it grows.
Economy
Tillage with oxen in Zambia
Internationally, if one takes the perspective of the farmer and his tool, the use of draft animals is still a majority: according to the FAO , about 1.3 billion farmers in the world, 430 million use of animal traction and fertilizer animal (and nearly 30 million under the growing mechanization trio / synthetic inputs / irrigation and the remainder, nearly 1 billion, grows by hand).
In industrialized countries, it said, the journalist Corinne Smith is a return of the horse for multiple uses: "Several cities and towns have embarked on the successful experience of replacing polluting and noisy vehicles by municipal the quiet workhorse. "The journalist cites the city of Trouville for glass collection, the city of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives for the school bus, the cities of Poitiers, Nantes, Pfaffenhoffen, Paris (Bois de Vincennes) for the upkeep of green. This slight return is also observed in the agricultural world: according to the Association France Treaty, there would be about 80 horses in France winemakers in France (1995 figure). A revival is also observed for the tools of tillage to animal traction: the versatile and innovative tools designed by Jean Nolle diffuse both in France and in southern countries (France, at the rate of thirty per year) .
Users of such tools are, in France, mainly small farmers and gardeners who want to maintain their independence and regain the skills non-industrial and non-market . This evolution is linked to the development of a versatile gardening within AMAP.
In Madagascar (second half of the twentieth century ) were developed by crossing a new breed of cattle to be also used as draft animals. He was named the Renitelo. The use of carts to beef in the center of the country was still very popular in the late 1980's.
Draught animals are still widely used in some African countries. These include cattle that are used for plowing, and to a lesser extent, the weeding , the mounding and transport carts , but donkeys. Animal power is growing in a large part of Africa, where it replaces the manual work. Thus, animals are used for transport in arid and prepare summary of land in semi-arid. Animal traction also strongly implanted in the sub-humid areas where annual crops such as cotton , the cassava , the rice and maize are possible, but it is also present in the more mountainous areas, as in the mountains Ethiopian where it is millennium Machines
A large number of wells, irrigation facilities, mills and factories (forges, presses, etc..) Used animal power, including through water wheels and winches.
Couplers
Bound by a yoke of oxen horns The use of draft animals usually requires the creation of a home equipment, the hitch , allowing the animal to pull a load, without injury. The older system would be the yoke to horns , which in the ancient Egypt , a wooden bar was placed between the horns of an ox. Over time, the bar is carved in wood to better adapt to the morphology of the animal and holes are made in order to pass the links in leather to pull the load.
The withers yoke is an evolution of horned yoke which allows the use of animals without horns or the shape of the horns are not amenable to the yoke of horns. It consists of a wooden bar placed on the withers, with a fastener passing over the shoulders and resting on the ribcage. The problem is that it withers yoke of crushing the animal's neck, preventing it from using its full force.
The yokes are used exclusively with animals having the neck in the same alignment as that of the spine , which is not true of the horse. Thus was created what we call the ancient coupling, which consists of a wide leather strap placed over the chest, the tinker. This strip is then attached to a wooden bar placed on the withers. Thus the animal pulls the load compressing his torso. The problem is that this team is not very effective because it crushes the chest of the animal, which prevents him from breathing properly and therefore reduces its speed.
For horses, the collar shoulder, known from the first century, but which spreads only from the eleventh century, provided a better power transmission and the horse did not interfere with breathing.
Cheyenne using the travois on a horse The travois is another type of coupling that can be used on the horse, but also on the dog. Used by American Indians , it consists of two wooden bars resting on the flanks of the animal. The two upper ends are met, while those below are on the floor. Its advantage is that it does not compress the chest of the animal.
Care and Living Conditions
Maintenance of skin of an elephant Draught animals are normally subject to regular care.
Travel
Old Italian traffic sign The movement of the couplings on the public highway are regulated in many countries.
References
- a , b and c (en) Gerard Le Thiec African Agriculture and Animal, Editions Quae, 1996, 376 p. ( ISBN 2876142406 , 9782876142404) See also
Bibliography
- General History of engineering - the origins in the fifteenth century in Chapter 5 in Section couplings, Maurice Daumas , ISBN 2-13-047861-1
- a , b and c (en) Gerard Le Thiec African Agriculture and Animal, Editions Quae, 1996, 376 p. ( ISBN 2876142406 , 9782876142404) See also
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