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Rural vSciioul Leaflkt 



ANIMALS TO BE RECOGNIZED IN 1915-1916 



THE DONKEY AND THE MULE 



M. W. TIari'ER 



The donkey is closely related to the horse, and was formerly used as 

 a beast of burden to a greater extent than tlic horse. The earliest literature 

 makes frequent mention of the donkey and its general usefulness to 



mankind . With the 

 increasing usefulness 

 of the horse, however, 

 the donkey's influence 

 rapidly diminished 

 particularly in the 

 new centers of ci\al- 

 ization. Even to-day 

 the donkey is exten- 

 sively used in the 

 older countries, par- 

 ticularly Asia and 

 Africa. 



At the present time, 

 however, the donkey 

 is attracting increas- 

 ing attention in west- 

 ern civilization be- 

 cause of the great 

 economic usefulness of 

 the mule. The mule 

 is a hyl~)rid produced 

 1 )y mating a jack, or a 

 male donkey, with a 

 mare. Since mules 

 and horses are used 

 for the same kinds of 

 work, there is a ten- 

 dency to develop types of donkeys somewhat similar to the types of 

 horses. Thus there are a niunber of breeds of donkeys varying in size, 

 conformation, and general activity. Most of the useful breeds of donkeys 

 were developed in the countries of southern Europe, particularly 

 Spain, Italy, and France. 



The United States makes greater use of the mule than any other country 

 in the world. Fully one-half of the total number are found in the United 

 States. This seems strange in \dew of the fact that the older nations 



Donkey 



