Voi. XLVI. No. 1956. 
NEW YORK, JULY 23, 1887. 
PRICE STVE CENTS 
$2.00 PEP. YEAR. 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, In the year 1887, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
THE MULE. 
Like the ass in England, the mule in Amer¬ 
ica is a very useful but a very much abused 
animal. He is equally the butt of the witling’s 
“chestnuts” and of the brute’s inhumanity. 
Belonging to no genus or species, he has but 
few friends. The Ishmael of the lower crea¬ 
tion,every man’s hand 
is against him, and 
his heels are against 
every man. He starts 
on life’s career as a 
hybrid, with a bad re¬ 
putation. During his 
entire course, he is fa¬ 
miliar with blows and 
imprecations; but a 
strauger to caresses or 
words of endearment. 
His merits are poorly 
appreciated; his faults 
are exaggerated. Sel¬ 
dom dot's charity or 
even self-interest in 
the guise of gentle¬ 
ness, attempt to cor¬ 
rect his defects by 
kindliness. Harshness 
of word and action is 
the only means of re¬ 
formation with which 
he is usually familiar 
from youth to old age; 
and a constant system 
of harshness is a poor 
means of reformation 
for man or beast. A- 
moug all our other do¬ 
mestic animals, im¬ 
provement is sought 
by selecting the best 
specimens of the race 
for breeding purposes; 
but this mode of im¬ 
provement is imprac¬ 
ticable with the mule. 
The virtues of each 
generation die w i t h it; 
its vices remain as a 
tradition to bespeak 
suspicion, dislike and 
ill-treatment for its 
successor. Prejudice, 
ignorance, bail breed¬ 
ing and cruel usage 
have prevented mules 
from becoming favor¬ 
ites iu the United 
States; but in coun¬ 
tries where they are 
rightly prized, as in 
Spaiu, Italy, Egypt 
and Morocco,• espec¬ 
ially the last, they are 
remarkable for docili¬ 
ty of temper, economy 
of keep, endurance 
and steadiness of la¬ 
bor, exemption from 
disease,and longevity. 
Many of them are beautiful, docile animals, 
used for the saddle, the diligence, and the car¬ 
riage of fashiou and of state. 
Still, even m this country, in spite of all 
sius of commission and omission against the 
uuloved race, though an artificial creation due 
to man’s care for his own interests, it has for 
years been steadily increasing in numbers at a 
more rapid ratio thau eveu the horse, the pet, 
the favorite, the object of the admiration, 
praise and endearment of all. 
The number of mules and asses on farms in 
this country on June 1, 1880, was, according 
to the last census, 1,812,808. Of these the 
number of asses was comparatively so small 
as to make but little difference in the sum 
total. The Census Office also tells us that it 
“took no account, either by enumeration 
or estimate of animals in the agricultural 
States,owned by persons not cultivating farms, 
whether in cities and villages or not,” and cer¬ 
tainly the number of mules thus omitted more 
than counterbalanced the number of asses iu- 
the numbers in the different States rapidly 
lessening, until Maine could boast of only 398, 
New Hampshire 87, and little Rhode Island 
4b; while these three States had, respectively, 
87,848; 46,773, and 9,661 horses. The number 
of horses iu Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, 
which possessed the greatest number of mules, 
was, respectively, 667,776; 260,119, and 805,606; 
so that, excluding Texas, which is a great 
horse-breeding State, where the mule flourishes 
most numerously, the horse proportionately 
diminishes in multitude, ami a comparison of 
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MULE. From Life. Fig. 260. 
eluded in the aggregate. At the same date 
the number of horses on farms was 10,357,488; 
so that for every mule there were 5 6-10 horses, 
or about 28 horses for every five mules. Iu 
the number of mules Missouri led off with 
192,027: thou came, in order, Tennessee with 
173,498; Texas, 132,447: Georgia, 182,076; Il¬ 
linois, 123,278; Alubama, 121,081; Kentucky, 
116,153; Arkansas, 87,082; North Carolina, 
SI,871; Louisiaua, 76,674; Kansas, 64,869; In¬ 
diana, 51,780; Iowa, 44,424; Virginia, 33,698; 
the numbers of both races in other States con¬ 
firms this statement. 
On Washington’s first retirement, in 1783, he 
devoted himself to the care of his farm at 
Mount Vernon, ami soou grew discontented 
with the working auimals at his command. 
Casting about for something better adapted 
for Southern agriculture, ho decided to try 
mules, and as soou as his intention became 
known, the King of Spaiu sent him a present 
of a jack aud two jennies selected from the 
royal stud at Madrid. The jack was known 
as the “Royal Gift,” and was 16 hands high, 
of a gray color, heavily made and of a slug¬ 
gish disposition. Shortly afterwards, in 1787, 
the Marquis de Lafayette sent him a jack and 
some jenuies from the island of Malta. The 
jack was known as the “Knight of Malta,” 
and was a splendid animal, “with the form of 
a stag aud the ferocity of a tiger.” By the ju¬ 
dicious use of these jacks, the Father of his 
Country produced a line lot of superior mules, 
eight of which sold for §200 apiece after his 
death in 1799. Be¬ 
fore his importations 
the ouly mules in this 
country were a few 
of diminu ti ve size and 
little value imported 
from the West In¬ 
dies. 
The mule is the pro¬ 
geny of the male ass 
or jack upon the fe¬ 
male horse or mare; 
while the word “hin¬ 
ny” is applied to the 
cross of the stallion 
upon the jenny or fe¬ 
male ass. The differ¬ 
ence in those two hy¬ 
brids, containing the 
same admixture of 
blood, is held to show 
the relative influence 
of sire and dam on 
the progeny. The 
mule is a modified 
ass: the mane is erect 
like that of an ass; 
the tail is that of an 
ass; the color is that 
of an ass, somewhat 
modified. The slen¬ 
der legs; high, nar¬ 
row, contracted hoofs 
are all like those of 
an ass. The body and 
barrel, however, are 
full and round, resem¬ 
bling those of a mare 
rather than of an ass. 
The hinny, on the 
other hand, is essen¬ 
tially a modified 
horse: the ears are 
those of a horst some¬ 
what lengthened; the 
mane is flowing, the 
tail bushy, the skin 
flue, the legs short, 
and the hoofs broad 
aud expanded, all 
like those of a horse. 
The body aud barrel, 
however, are flat aud 
narrow, resembling 
those of its mother 
the ass. Finally, the 
mule brays, while the 
hinny neighs. In all 
these external char¬ 
acteristics, therefore, 
these two hybrids fol¬ 
low the male parent; 
but in size they both 
follow the female parent, the mule being in 
all respects a larger and finer animal than its 
sire, the ass; while the hinny is just the re¬ 
verse, being small, fiat and narrow. Hence it 
is argued that the male gives the locomotive 
organs, among which are the muscles. These 
are the organs that modify the voice; hence 
the mule, having the muscular structure of its 
sire, brays; while the hinuy, for the same rea¬ 
son, ueighs. Many doubt this theory, however, 
and there are certainly some objections to it. 
