THE AMERICAN MULE. 113 



One of tlie most instructive papers on tlie utilisation and 

 breeding of mules in America was published in tlie Report 

 of the Commissioners of Agriculture, that was presented to 

 the House of Representatives, in 1863. It was written by 

 Mr. J. T. Warder, of Springfield, Ohio, himself a large 

 breeder of mules. From this valuable Report the following 

 extracts are taken : 



" The mule is everywhere hardier than the horse, subject to 

 fewer diseases, more patient, better adapted to travelHng on 

 rugged and trackless surfaces, less fastidious as to its food, and 

 much less expensive in feeding, more muscular in proportion to its 

 weight, and usually hving and working to about double the age. 



" In our own country the prejudice that once existed against 

 them is rapidly yielding, and we find them used in the street 

 cars in some of our cities, and occasionally observe them 

 attached to elegant private carriages. In many parts of the 

 country they are used for heavy draught ; for this purpose they 

 have long been employed in some of the iron regions, which are 

 often hilly, and even mountainous, and traversed with very bad 

 roads — rough, rocky, and muddy — where these animals are 

 found to be better adapted to the circumstances than horses. 

 In some of the mountainous portions of Pennsylvania they are 

 used in the log- waggons, and it is truly marvellous to see them 

 tugging at their loads, drawing the wains around huge rocks, 

 logs, and stumps, and through rapid torrents, and among 

 thickets of tangled underbrush that would appal a team of 

 horses, and where these latter animals would be entirely worth- 

 less. It is true the teams employed in such situations are of 

 superior quahty, and are much larger and heavier than < ommon 

 mules ; but their powers of endurance and their determined 

 pluck and perseverance in overcoming difficulties make them 

 invaluable in this kind of service. Then, again, their great 

 intelligence adds to their value in the wild roads they have ta 

 traverse, and enables their driver to manage them without a 

 line, but simply by the word of command. 



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