AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
141 
as well as the horse, has less sagacity and speed, 
and is thought to he more vicious. It may be 
said in favor of mules that they thrive on much 
plainer food, and are strong and swift enough 
for most farm purposes. They are excellent 
draft animals. Most of the carting in New Or¬ 
leans and other southern cities is done by them. 
Much has been said upon the comparative 
merits of the horse and ox, for the northern 
farm, and each has its strong advocates. . Nei¬ 
ther can be shown to be best for all kinds of 
land. In behalf of the ox it is said, that he is 
slower than the horse, and so is better adapted 
to carting over very rough roads and woodlands 
and to plowing land full of stones and roots. 
Oxen can be used where horses would tear har¬ 
nesses and carts all to pieces. The ox also is 
available for beef, when he has served faithfully 
in the yoke for eight or ten years. A pair of 
heavy working cattle, in good condition, are fre¬ 
quently worth quite as much for the butcher as 
for the farmer. The horse in old age is only 
good to “ trade off,” or in case of death, for the 
crows or the manure heap. The slow motion of 
the ox which seems to be the strongest argu¬ 
ment in his favor, must be against him with all 
progressive farmers. Rough fields ought to be 
cleared of rocks and stumps so as to make room 
for the plow, the mowing machine and the reap¬ 
er. With a farm in the condition in which it 
can be most economically cultivated, a horse 
team is the most profitable. Their quickness of 
motion is a very great advantage, and in the 
course of the year shows many dollars gain in 
the saving of time. On the road a horse team 
travels nearly twice as fast as an ox team. In 
plowing, a pair of horses will plow as much in 
two days as a yoke of cattle of the same weight 
will in three days. The horses also will stand 
the heat much better. 
Contrary to the general impression, too, we 
believe that the horse is more cheaply kept than 
jibe ox. Where there is occasion to keep the 
animals in the stable and to feed with hay and 
grain, as is generally the case where the teams 
are kept constantly at work, the horse is the less 
expensive animal. The experiments to which 
we have access go to show this. In plowing and 
tillage the work is much better done by the 
horse. In turning the furrow over rapidly the 
soil is broken up more finely and lies lighter, 
making a fine seedbed. All the tillage necessary 
for corn and potatoes in clean land can be per¬ 
formed with the horse. He is altogether the 
nobler animal, and exerts a refining influence 
upon his lord and master. 
Mule Raising. 
Whatever may be said.of the esthetics of mule 
raising, there is but one side to be taken in re¬ 
gard to the profitableness of it if wisely man¬ 
aged. Let us look at a few facts. Mules are 
hardier, cost less to keep than horses, are sold 
unbroken, and are ready for market the Fall after 
they are 2 years old. They are driven to market 
in droves and sold like cattle; that is, the buyer 
has no recourse, as in case of horses, if he finds 
the mule lame, foundered, balky, or ‘ dead—un¬ 
less gross deception be practiced, and the price 
paid is clearly money obtained on false pretences. 
They are always marketable, having a definite 
value, and a ready sale, as much so as neat cat¬ 
tle or sheep, and even halt and maimed animals 
bring a proportionate price. It is not an un¬ 
common thing to hear a man say when remon¬ 
strated with for working a crippled mule—“ It 
will out-work any horse I have got.” Allow I 
that at two years old, a mule and a colt of 
like age have, cost, the breeder the same sum. 
The mule is ready for market, or nearly so 
and he is worth 20 to 25 per cent, more than 
the horse.—Price of mules will average fully 
20 .per cent, higher than horses. At a year 
and-a-half old the mule may be put to light 
work without injury and rather to advantage, 
and from that time on may earn his own living 
at least. The horse is salable at 5 years old, 
but not then unless he is broken. He can not 
be put to work of any kind much before four 
years old; and during all this time his breeder 
has to run the risk of accidents, sickness, bad 
breaking, and luck in marketing. There are 
several other important considerations. Many 
a mare which brings inferior colts will produce 
mules of very salable quality, and yet the finer 
the mare, other things being equal, the better 
mules she foals. Many Kentucky and Ten¬ 
nessee farmers have long used thorough, bred mares 
for mule breeding, and their mule stock is ex¬ 
ceedingly fine. The excellence of the Jack is 
not less essential to marked success, though as 
already stated, any and every mule finds his 
market and that, too, without “ jockying.” The 
Superintendent of the Sixth Avenue Railroad in 
this City states that in employing mule labor 
there is a saving of 3 per cent, in casualties, 124 
per cent, in keeping, and 25 per cent, in shoeing. 
Still, we believe, for some cause the trial of 
mules upon this and other city railroads, result¬ 
ed unfavorably to their continued use. Mules 
are adapted to work on level ground, for they 
can not hold back well, and except as saddle 
beasts will never be much used in hilly countries. 
A First-rate Mole Trap. 
We have received several mole traps, and mod¬ 
els of traps, for catching these vermin, among 
all of which the one represented below appears 
the most simple and practical. An upright 
piece (a,) 1x3 
inches, and 24 to 
3 feet long, sharp¬ 
ened so as to be 
driven firmly into 
the ground, sus¬ 
tains a heavy oak 
block (&,) attached 
to it by two wood¬ 
en clamps (c,) 
which allow it to 
slide with great 
freedom up and 
down. Nailed on 
the block is a 
cross-piece {d,) 10 
inches long and 
two wide, which 
has at each end two stout wires inserted an inch 
apart and made very sharp. The block (&,) is 
sustained in an elevated position by the piece (e,) 
which passes through the upright just enough to 
catch upon the block when in the position shown 
in the cut. It is held in this position by the 
piece/</, in one end of which (at /,) notches are 
cut, and the slightest elevation of the opposite 
end (fir,) disengages the piece e, and lets the block 
fall. The trap is so arranged that when the 
block drops the pins will all enter the mole track, 
which is undisturbed except by flattening it 
down with the foot even with the surface, just 
at the point where the end g, of the piece / g, 
will come. The block is lowered once or twice 
so as to be sure that the pins will penetrate the 
soil without difficulty. The trap is then set, and 
fir just touches the ground where it is trodden 
down over the mole track. The block must 
have a fall of 12 to 14 inches. The pieces e, and 
/ S', are each about 15 inches long, and made 
very light. The slightest lifting at'fir, will throw 
e out of the notch in /, and let the block fall. The 
mole approaching from either direction, raises 
the ground before him, springs the trap, and the 
points will most surely pierce his body. Ex¬ 
periments have proved that the best distance 
apart for the pairs of wires, is 9 inches, letting 
them enter the ground about 44 inches from 
the trip g. The block b is a piece of rough 
scantling, with the piece c, nailed on. The 
whole is easily and quickly made. For this 
plan we are indebted to Mr. W. Norton of Mer¬ 
cer Co., N. J., who has used it with entire suc¬ 
cess for several years. 
A few Hints about Plowing. 
For some time past we have been waiting to 
give in the Agriculturist promised essays on 
plows and plowing; but those best able to dis¬ 
cuss the subject, scientifically as well as practi¬ 
cally, are still top busy otherwise, to make the 
requisite drawings to illustrate the principles, 
and to go into a thorough treatment of the sub¬ 
ject. (We have plowed a good deal of land, 
and think we could teach some of our readers 
could we get them with us into the field and 
teach by example.) While waiting for what we 
desire to get from others, let us offer a hint or two. 
The object of plowing is to break up, to pul¬ 
verize the soil —to make it as fine as possible. That 
plow is not always the best which will turn 
over the neatest furrow. To merely invert the 
surface layer, or shift the position of the soil in 
masses, or in furrow slices, Avith the least expen¬ 
diture of team power, is not the only end to be 
sought for. Some of the old-fashioned mold- 
boards Avill often stir the soil better than the 
newer patterns that show the least strain upon 
the dynamometer. For sod-land, and where 
the surface is not pretty clean, it is generally de¬ 
sirable, however, to turn the furroAV neatly over. 
The grass, weeds, etc., being well buried, the 
pulverizing of the surface can be done with the 
harrow or cultivator. 
Clay soils, or heavy loams, should never be 
plowed when wet enough to pack, mortar like: 
the great desideratum is to loosen the soil for the 
admission of air and warmth. Light sandy 
soils, on the contrary, may sometimes be bene- 
fitted by plowing them when wet. 
Very deep plowing is not always advisable, 
except by subsoiling. The truth is, nearly all 
soils are poisonons to plants until after they are 
exposed to the action of air and frost. Many a 
man—once a skim-plower running the share but 
three or four inches deep—has got it intp his 
head that the deep-plowing men are right. He 
goes home, doubles his team, and at once 
puts down the plow twice as deep as ever it 
went before. The consequence is, he turns up a 
mass of raw material, and the next crop is near¬ 
ly or quite a failure. He, and his neighbors, at 
once eschew all the new-fangled notions, sink 
back iffto the old routine, and there is an end to 
all further attempt at improvements in that 
neighborhood. But had there been an inch or 
so of the raw soil turned up for each successive 
crop, and the tilth been gradually deepened year 
by year, the evil consequences would have been 
averted, and in a brief period, five or six years— 
the plow, the air, and the frost working togeth¬ 
er—the most happy results would have followed. 
The roots of the grass, of the corn, of the wheat 
