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THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



Fro III the Viicriiiarij Jonrncd. 



Interesting" Article on Mules > 



M>\ Editor— 



Supposing that little is known among the 

 generality of your readers as to the extent 

 of the mule business in this State, I con- 

 cluded it would not be uninteresting to 

 them to learn concerning it, and something 

 of the character of the beast itself, as I 

 take it for granted they have not had an 

 opportunity of learning all his phrenologi- 

 cal develo])ments or temperament. 



The mule trade is one of the largest of 

 Kentucky, and affords one of her chief 

 sources of revenue. The increasing de- 

 m.and for them in the South, among the 

 sugar and cotton planters (which is ov»^ing 

 no doubt to the great number of farms an- 

 nually being opened,) aiFords a very easy 

 solution for the eagerness and extent to 

 which stock growers launch into the trade, 

 for it is a very heavy business, requiring, 

 a great deal of capital. The mule is fed 

 from weaning time (which is generally at 

 the age of five or six months,) to the full 

 extent of its capacity to eat, and that too 

 on oats and corn, together with hay and 

 fodder. In lieu of the long food, soiling 

 is usually adopted in the summer, as they 

 are kept confined in a pound or paddock, 

 containing an acre or two of ground, which 

 is usually partially shaded, in herds of one 

 hundred and fifty. In this way they are 

 kept until the fall after they are two years 

 old, receiving a s-ort of forcinj^^ hot house! 

 treatment. At this age they are taken to | 

 the southern market, not always by the i 

 feeder, but more generally by the specu-! 

 lator or "trader," there they are sold to ^ 

 the planter entirely unbroken. The plan- ' 

 ters are too cautious to buy a broke mule, I 

 lest it should prove to be an antiquated, | 

 broken down beast, fattened up, and sold 

 for a young one, — as it is more difficult to; 

 judge of their ages than that of a horse. | 

 The external marks of time, and service j 

 is not generally so apparent upon them. — j 

 But it is a small job to break a mule. It j 

 is only necessary to have a steady horse to 

 work them with and a second hand to drive 

 them an hour or two to keep him up, after 

 which, he is considered ready for any ser- 

 vice that the farmer may require of him. 

 He may kick once or twice, but is unlike 

 ;the spirited horse, who when he commen- 



ces is apt to kick himself out of the har- 

 ness before he stops. 



There were in this county, in the year 

 1855,2,000 mules; in 1856, there were 

 2,888; the number in the county at pres- 

 ent I have no means of ascertaining, but 

 suppose it is at least as great, perhaps 

 greater than itt any previous year. The 

 probabilities are that all of these, or as 

 many, were fed in this county each year. 

 The counties immediately around no doubt 

 fed equally as many, some no doubt more. 

 The counties of Bourbon, Fayette, Clark 

 and Jessamine are engaged quite as exten- 

 sively in the trade as this. 



Besides the great number of mules fed 

 annually in these counties, we supply New 

 Orleans, New York, and other cities with 

 an immense amount of beef, mutton and 

 bacon. These facts being considered, you 

 may readily imagine that we m.ust, of ne- 

 cessity, be a grain growing people. Such 

 is the fact. Yet so extensive is the mule 

 business, and so great are profits upon 

 ^ feeding, that those engaged in the trade 

 j can afibrd to give 40 cts. per bushel for 

 I corn, at least they say so, and cannot get 

 it for less. 



I In this portion of Kentucky, a lot of 

 mules is almost considered a legal tender ; 

 jUo man is afraid to buy mules at a little 

 [less than, he thinks they are worth if he 

 ' has anything to feed them on, for he knows 

 I that some buyer will come along in a few 

 , days and pay him a sm.all profit on the 

 'first cost and tlie grain they have eaten. — 

 jit is not unusual for a farmer to borrow 

 I money out of banks on four or six months' 

 jtime, to pay for a lot of mules to eat up 

 'his surplus of provender, knowing that it 

 is more profitable to do so than to sell the 

 ' surplus at home. 



As a consequence of this great mania, 

 if it might be so called, and which has 

 now existed for several years, good horses 

 have become comparatively scarce, saddle 

 and harness horses commanding the most 

 exorbitant prices, the sports of the turf 

 were in a perfectly collapsed state, the 

 best stallions were poorly patronized, and 

 mares of finest form, the purest strain and 

 most brilliant escutcheon, were basely 

 " prostituted to the forced and ignoble em- 

 braces of the assinine ravisher." 



The average price of weanlings is about 

 $75. No. 1 from $80 to $90, and extra, 

 often as high as $120. A lot will often 



