MULES FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. 
19 
MULES FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. 
The great value of mules, for agricultural and 
economical purposes, has long been known and 
generally acknowledged. By those who have 
given them a thorough trial, their decided superi¬ 
ority to horses is universally conceded. Why 
then have they not been more generally intro¬ 
duced into the United States, whose citizens are 
keen to perceive whatever is calculated to promote 
their own interest? We believe this neglect 
arises not from a deficiency of sagacity, but from 
an excess of pride. 
In his best estate, this despised hybrid has not 
the fineness, symmetry, elegance, and command¬ 
ing action and appearance of the well-bred horse; 
and in the New England states, where they were 
first introduced to any extent, they were the off¬ 
spring of such worthless progenitors on both sides, 
that it was no wonder they never became general 
favorites. They were first bred almost exclusive¬ 
ly as an article of commerce. The market for 
them was found in the West India islands, where 
a just taste or nice discrimination did not exist, 
and where they were estimated, as recruits for an 
army, only by the number of ears. Diminutive, bad¬ 
ly-formed little brutes were imported for the sires, 
and the only quality considered essential to him, 
was the certainty of his perpetuating his deformi¬ 
ties whenever an opportunity offered. The mares 
used for this purpose, were such, generally, as were 
fit for nothing else. It would have been singular, 
with such an exhibition of qualities, that their de¬ 
scendants should ever have been introduced as do¬ 
mestic favorites. They were tolerated only as an 
article of profit, and when the markets, first in the 
West Indies, and afterward in the southern states, 
were cut off, they were at once unceremoniously 
struck from the list of northern stock. 
The breeding of mules, however, has been wise¬ 
ly taken up by our western and southern farmers ; 
and throughout the slave states especially, where 
the stock is necessarily exposed to rough usage, 
they are considered as an invaluable substitute for 
the horse. Much expense in the importation of 
Jacks, and discrimination in breeding, has been 
there applied, and the result is, that they have an 
admirable race of animals, every way suited to 
their wants. Occasionally, we have seen fine 
specimens in New England, New Jersey, and 
the southern part of New York, and by their own¬ 
ers they were universally held as much superior 
to horses of the same weight, for all purposes of 
utility. A passably good animal is seldom valued 
at less than $100, and sometimes as high as $200 
and $250. A. De Russey, Esq., of New Jersey, 
showed me a pair of mule colts, bred from fine 
blood mares, for which he had been offered $200 
at weaning age, but he expected to get $200 each 
for them when fairly in harness. I have seen 
several other pairs at the north, for which $400 
had been repeatedly offered and refused. These 
facts show that wherever they are properly bred, 
properly trained, and properly looked after, their 
value is fully appreciated even in this region. 
It is from a desire to the more general introduc¬ 
tion of this valuable animal on the farms through¬ 
out our northern states, that I shall submit the 
following brief summary of facts, in their favor. 
Not having much personal experience of their good 
qualities, I must draw somewhat from the expe¬ 
rience of others. S. W. Pomeroy, Esq., of Massa¬ 
chusetts, wrote a prize essay .on mules, in 1825,* 
which is altogether the most comprehensive, yet 
condensed and practical article on the subject, I 
have seen, and from this I shall take the liberty 
of making some extracts. 
There is no doubt, that the value of the mule, 
like every other animal, depends almost exclusive¬ 
ly on that of his sire and dam. No good foal can 
be relied on, except from choice parents. The best 
Jacks are supposed to have originated, where the 
perfection of horse-flesh has been found ; viz., in 
the dry, sandy region of Arabia. It is doubtless 
from this source, that the Jacks of Malta, among 
the most valuable ever brought to this country, 
have been derived; while the best and most spir¬ 
ited race of the Spanish Jacks have probably had 
a similar, though somewhat remoter origin; 
having been introduced into that country from 
Morocco, by the Moors; these being direct de¬ 
scendants of the Arabian ass. Though not pos¬ 
sessing the larger size, they have more symmetry, 
spirit, endurance, and intelligence, than the slow¬ 
er and more unwieldy ass of other regions ; and it 
is from these races, and large, well-bred, roomy 
mares, that the best mules in this country have 
been produced. General Washington had a Mal¬ 
tese Jack sent him from Marseilles, by La Fayette, 
in 1787, which produced for him a valuable race 
of mules; and from him and a Spanish Jennet, a 
present from the king of Spain, he bred Compound, 
a famous stock-getter.f From these two Jacks, 
were bred some of the best mules the country at 
that time afforded. General Washington used his 
best coach-mares for this purpose, and his judg¬ 
ment in this practice was shown by the result. 
After his decease, eight of his mules sold for up¬ 
ward of $1,600. G. W. P. Custis, Esq., who in¬ 
herited some of this stock, says: “ As to my opin¬ 
ion of the value of mules, I shall always appear 
extravagant. I have scarce a horse on my estate 
for agricultural purposes, nor would I accept of 
one as a gift. Mules live longer, and eat less; 
and by their strength, patient endurance of slender 
pasturage, privation, and hardship, are better suit¬ 
ed to our slaves than any other animal could pos¬ 
sibly be.” This opinion is strongly corroborated 
by an official report of a highly intelligent agricul¬ 
tural committee in South Carolina, in 1824 ; which 
reported, that “ the annual expense of keeping a 
horse was equal to his value ; that a horse at four 
years old would not often bring more than his 
cost; that two mules could be raised at less ex¬ 
pense than one horse; is fit for service earlier, and 
if of sufficient size, will perform as much labor; 
and if attended to when first put to work, his gait 
and habits may be formed to suit the owner.” 
* Published in the American Farmer, Vol. VII. 
f I noticed in the stables of Dr. John A. Poole of New 
Brunswick, N. J., while on a visit to him last year, sev- 
eral very superior Jacks. Some were of the Spanish, 
some Maltese, and some native bred, and all excellent of 
their kind. 
