542 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
August 6 
AN INDIANA MULE FEEDER. 
HOW HIS PETS ARK CARED FOR. 
Near Greensburg, Decatur County, Ind., lives Warder 
W. Hamilton, perhaps the largest mule feeder in 
America. I was unfortunate in not seeing so many 
mules in the bairns as I would had I gone either earlier 
or later ; but 200 and more mules almost ready for 
market, arc worth going many miles to see. Mr. Ham¬ 
ilton came, with a young wife, to Indiana from Ken¬ 
tucky in the fifties, locating near where he now re- 
MICHIGAN FARMHOUSE—GROUND PLAN. Fig. 249. 
sides. Hi'S elegant brick residence, fitted up with all 
modern conveniences and heated throughout with 
natural gas, almost belies the idea that his first years 
in Hoosierdom were spent in a log cabin with a 
puncheon floor,and lighted through oiled paper instead 
of plate glass. Little did he think when he tethered 
out his only mule, of the thousands he would own. 
This white-haired friend says that he “ never made a 
deed,” but as he has a clear title to over 1,700 acres of 
land as fine as ever bore lioof-prints, he 
has seen to it that neighbors have made 
several. 
The great depression in the mule trade 
the last few years, has caused many 
changes in Mr. Hamilton’s management 
of his stock, as well as in the number 
kept. Formerly he kept from 300 to 500 
all the time, and of different ages. As 
fast as a car or boat-load were fit, they 
were sent to market, and younger or thin 
ones put in their places, lie had agents 
all over the mule-producing sections, 
buying anything from a weanling to 
a finished animal ready for market. Now 
he aims to buy only mature and well- 
broken animals, and he or his son, who 
is considered to be the best judge of a 
mule in America, does mostof the buying. 
The mule harvest begins at the close of.the grazing 
season, during an excessive drought, or at any time 
when the average farmer can no longer feed to advan¬ 
tage, although mules can be bought of, or sold to, 
Warder W. Hamilton any day of the year except 
Sunday. 
Animals are grazed during the Summer, but are 
given, in addition to grass, all the grain they can eat, 
and within a few weeks or a month of the time to sell, 
they are put in the barns or have but a small field to 
run in while the finishing touches are given them. 
Hut it is the systematic and scientific wintering that 
has made the money and reputation of Mr. Hamilton. 
In the first place, the mules go into Winter quarters 
in fine condition. The Fall pastures have been sup¬ 
plemented with grain, and there is no check in going 
from grass to dry feed. Corn is the one food that 
makes mule feeding profitable, although hundreds of 
bundles of oats, as well as pounds of mill feed, are 
used. Several hundred acres of corn yielding from 60 
to 00 bushels are grown each year. Every stalk of 
this is cut and shocked just at the proper time to 
make the best of feed. 
The feeding barns are 50 by 100 feet, with a drive¬ 
way through the center. Twice a day men go to the 
fields, load wagons with this corn fodder, drive into 
the barn, unload this fodder into wide and deep feed 
troughs, without any cutting or other tomfoolery 
about it. Sheaf oats, uncut and even untied, are fed 
in these same boxes. The mules eat the corn and oat 
grain first, then the best of the straw and corn stover, 
the orts being used for bedding. From the time feed¬ 
ing in the barn begins, the feeders are constantly at 
work feeding, bedding and drawing manure. This 
manure is plowed under for corn, and the corn stubble 
is sown to oats, the oats followed by clover and Tim¬ 
othy. Yet with this rotation over a great portion of 
1,700 acres, Mr. Hamilton buys all the shock corn near 
enough to his own land to haul and feed profitably, 
and many bundles of oats each year. 
The average mule trader finds a market down South 
in the cotton and sugar belt, but Mr. Hamilton being 
a noted specialist, finds his best market in South 
America, Australia and many European countries. 
To be sure, these markets call for only the very finest 
animals, but as Mr. Hamilton buys only that kind, 
and knows just how to put on the “gilt edge”, he is 
the man to fill any bill, no matter how exacting it 
may be. With good, thoroughly-broken mules, put 
into the feeding barns in the Fall, systematically fed 
and watered—ami by the way, Mr. Hamilton has a 
bored well in each barn and water within reach of 
every mule all the time, deeming water just as neces¬ 
sary as feed—and the reputation and markets as he 
has built them up, there is money in mules in spite of 
the depression and hard times other buyers, feeders 
and traders are experiencing, mrs. w. w. stkvkns. 
Indiana. 
WHAT THEY SAY. 
Work of a Buzz Saw.— A reader in New York State 
makes this comment: 
I have been looking at The R. N.-Y. reproduction of the New 
York Herald cartoon, page 517, and I venture to offer the criticism 
that, usually, in cases of “buzz saws going at full speed”, the 
individual teeth are not visible. At least, they always appeared 
so to me. But, maybe the artist meant to hint that Uncle Sam 
was ready to kick the belt off the loose pulley, when circum¬ 
stances required. 
Uncle Sam hasn’t really begun business in the Philip¬ 
pines yet. He is just getting ready—putting up belts 
and getting steam up. He is liable to start at any 
time, and small boys should keep hands off the ma¬ 
chinery ! 
Poor Strawberry Crop. —I have just been plowing 
under my strawberry patch of two acres. I had only 
about 3,000 quarts. I never have had the yields that 
other people tell of. I used on the two acres 2,000 
pounds of phosphate, the same of ashes, and a good 
coat of barnyard manure, and mulched with rye straw. 
I had 30 varieties. I was not at all pleased with some 
of the new kinds I tried. Brandywine, Marshall, 
PLAN FOR A MICHIGAN FARMHOUSE. Fig. 250. 
Wm. Belt, Enormous, Bismarck, I shall give one more 
trial. I had 56 rows in all. One row of Bubaeh had, 
at three pickings, 100 quarts and three or four pick¬ 
ings of smaller amounts, which must have amounted 
to 50 quarts or more. If the rest of the patch had 
yielded likewise, I would have been well pleased. I 
had an engine, pump and pipe on the ground ready to 
irrigate, but did not use them, as we had a good 
amount of rain, and the berries all matured without 
MICHIGAN FARMHOUSE—CELLAR. Fig. 251. 
drying up. I saw one crate of 30 quarts of fair berries 
sold for §1 in our town. Mine averaged about six 
cents, which is little enough. h. a. f. 
Medina, N. Y. 
Building Tub Silos. —Since the article on tub silos, 
by L. A. Clinton, was printed, we have received some 
criticisms from silo makers, chiefly with regard to 
beveling the staves. One Michigan critic says that he 
would not only bevel the staves so that they would 
be like a water tank, but also tongue and groove them. 
On water tanks, he says, supposed to be filled with 
water, beveling is all that is necessary ; but as he 
understands it, the silo should not only be water¬ 
tight but air-tight. In reply to these criticisms, Mr. 
Clinton sends the following note : 
“When I advised through The R. N.-Y. that tub 
silos be constructed without beveling or tonguing and 
grooving the staves, I was well aware that I was advis¬ 
ing contrary to the opinions of some authorities. Also, 
in advising the construction of tub silos, I am going 
contrary to the opinions of some who are looked upoil 
as authorities. In building a very small silo, say less 
MICHIGAN FARM HOUSE—UPPER FLOOR. Flo. 252. 
than 12 feet in diameter, I would advise beveling the 
staves slightly, if they are six inches wide. If the staves 
are made of 2 x 4 scantling, no beveling is required. 
In the construction of a silo whose diameter is more 
than 12 feet, I would recommend not beveling the 
staves. I have just been constructing a 160-ton tub 
silo, and have had some of the staves beveled and some 
of them put up without any bevel. I find the best 
joint is made at the inside edge of the staves where 
they are not beveled. Upon drawing the 
hoops tight, the staves are compressed 
on the inner edge, making an air-tight 
joint.” 
A Nurseryman Wanted.— A reader in 
South Carolina has a small nursery 
which is doing a fair business. He wants 
to find a reliable man, with some knowl¬ 
edge of the nursery business, to take 
hold of this enterprise and push it along. 
We frequently hear of opportunities of 
this kind where young men might pos¬ 
sibly find an opportunity of investing 
_their skill for a fair price. In some of 
the States of the West and South, small 
nurseries are still quite profitable, and 
it would seem as though graduates of 
our agricultural colleges might be able 
to combine with the owners of such 
nurseries so as to do a fair business. Such proposi¬ 
tions are seldom made public, yet one would suppose 
that they ought to be as legitimate as similar business 
propositions for young engineers, or other skilled 
workmen. 
A Business Problem.— Mr. J. A. McKee, of Lincoln 
County, Ky., sends us what he calls a problem in 
actual business for The Rural boys. Here it is: 
“ McKee and Gibson plant an orchard of apples and 
peaches on shares—one apple to three peach trees, 
profits to be equally divided. Gibson elects to take 
all the apples as part of his share. A peach crop has 
been marketed, and the money awaits division. What 
part does Gibson get ?” Mr. McKee offers the follow¬ 
ing solution to his own problem : “ Gibson gets one- 
third of the peach money. In taking an apple tree, he 
gets one-fourth of four trees. One-fourth of four 
trees is still due him. One-fourth of four is equal to 
one-third of three.” Some of our readers may not 
agree with him. In that case, we shall be glad to 
have their figures, with reasons for them. 
Good and Bad Plowing. —An old gentleman, when 
asked what the hired man was doing, said, with a 
look of disgust: “ Oh, he’s out there in the field mug- 
gling sods ! ” That expressed it about as well as any¬ 
thing. Almost any one can “ muggle ” sods, but good 
plowmen are scarce. No other farm work requires so 
much skill and care. No field, reasonably smooth and 
free from large stones, is thoroughly plowed unless 
the furrows are even, sods all turned over, and grass 
and weeds out of sight. This can be done with a fail- 
team and good plow, if the plowman will observe two 
old rules: 1, keep both hands on the plow handles as 
much as possible; 2, watch the wheel or end of plow 
beam with one eye to see that the furrow is of the 
right width all the time, and with the other see that 
the sods turn over, giving all refractory ones a vigor¬ 
ous kick. Busy work ? Yes, but something worth 
while will be done. Ordinarily the team will not re- 
