316 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
.November. 
The Ass and his Progeny. 
The interest now excited among benevolent 
people in England to secure kind treatment for 
the abused donkey, reminds us of a purpose of 
telling the readers of the American Agriculturist 
something about this, the favorite saddle beast in 
many countries, the poor man’s companion, and 
children’s pet and playmate over all Europe. 
Our illustration shows a group of the more val¬ 
ued kinds. This animal, with which we associ¬ 
ate qualities of meekness and obstinacy, stupid¬ 
ity and patience, surefootedness, longevity, abil¬ 
ity to bear privations and abuse, aud to live on 
“next-to-nothing and thistles,” is a stranger to 
our farms, and village streets. He is not seen 
on our mountains, nor does he bring fruit and 
vegetables to our city markets. Wherever found 
in this country, he is a curiosity almost; and 
the sonorous voice of the braying trumpeter of 
the fables, is an unknown sound, except in a 
few mule-raising districts. Throughout nearly 
all the rest of the civilized world man finds use 
for the donkey. He is emphatically the poor 
man’s beast of burden. Living upon the 
coarsest fare, dried leaves, weeds of almost all 
kinds, straw and fodder refused by other stock, 
are all he wants as food, and if his fastidious 
craving for pure water be satisfied he is quite 
content. The ass is exceedingly like the horse 
in structure and nature, and in fact many 
kinds of horses are more unlike each other in 
appearance than are some horses and asses. 
This animal doubtless originated in that quarter 
of the globe which is regarded as the cradle 
of the human race, and it has been known 
in a domesticated condition since the earliest 
time of which we have record. In the East 
certain breeds possess great beauty, and com¬ 
bine sleekness of coat, pride of carriage, and ' 
fleetness, with the other qualities we have men- j 
tioned. Neglected and abused as he usually is 
in Europe, the race dwindles in size, until spec¬ 
imens are often found smaller than the smallest 
ponies. Still with this diminutive size we find 
hardiness of constitution, toughness, freedom 
from disease, strength, capacity for carrying 
burdens and for draft, the like of which, in pro¬ 
portion to its size, no other quadruped possesses. 
The hoof of the Ass is more upright tlian that 
of the horse, and it is harder and tougher, so 
that shoeing is not so necessary. The pastern 
joints are shorter and stiffer, and it may be this 
peculiarity which gives the Ass so sure a foot, 
and makes the fault of stumbling so very un¬ 
common.—The great length of the ears is well 
known. In common with others of the horse 
family (genus Equus ), especially the Quagga and 
Zebra, the Ass has a dark stripe down the back 
from head to tail, crossed at the shoulders by 
another. The superstitious peasantry of Europe 
regard this as the sign of the cross, from an 
ass’s colt having been used by our Saviour. The 
prevailing colors of the Ass are dun or mouse 
color, maltese and black, but white, bay and 
brown are seen occasionally. Wherever this 
animal has been carefully selected and bred, it 
has been greatly improved. The best and largest, 
used for mule breeding, come from Spain, and 
from the East, where Smyrna is the chief mark¬ 
et, and they have also been bred with great care 
for size and beauty in some parts of South Amer¬ 
ica. The mule is a hybrid resulting from 
coupling the male ass with a mare, and possess¬ 
es the external qualities, voice and intellect¬ 
ual character of his sire, having the frame arid 
internal organization of the horse. The Hinny, 
which is the product of crossing theshe-ass with 
a horse, has the neigh, with the flowing mane 
and tail of the horse, and its external appear¬ 
ance is much less asinine than the mule, but the 
frame is small and its internal organization takes 
after its dam. It is on the whole a much less 
profitable animal than the mule. Neither the 
mule nor the hinny are capable of breeding. 
[Those who are in, or have accompanied our 
armies during the present war, know that the 
wagons of the Army of the Potomac’s immense 
supply train, often spoken of as being “ nine 
hundred miles in length,” are nearly all drawn 
by mules, six to the wagon. We have seen 
almost if not quite a hundred acres covered with 
these six-mule, canvas-covered wagons thickly 
“parked” together. The food almost always 
irregular, and sometimes scanty, with the treat¬ 
ment they receive from such drivers as theyhave, 
mainly ignorant negroes just emancipated, 
would break down horses faster than they 
could be transported to the army. Indeed, we 
can scarcely conceive how the army could have 
been supplied in its lengthy march from the 
Rapidan to the James, had not these mule 
teams been secured. We often wondered where 
so many mules could have been gathered in 
this country.—0. J.] 
Neat’s Foot Oil is the very best prepara¬ 
tion for softening and preserving leather. A 
supply should be on hand in every house for 
use on harness, carriage tops, boots, shoes, etc., 
and applied often enough to keep them soft and 
pliable. To prepare it, break and cut into small 
pieces the shin-bones and hoofs of an ox or 
cow, and put them into a kettle. Keep them 
covered with water and boil until the oil is ex¬ 
tracted and rises to the surface. While boiling, 
water enough should be added from time to 
time to supply that lost by evaporation, so that 
the oil shall not come in contact with the bones 
and be again absorbed. The process will be 
hastened by keeping the kettle closely covered 
to retain the heat. When cold, the oil may be dip¬ 
ped off and kept in jugs or bottles tightly corked. 
