Vol. LXX. No. 4097. 
NEW YORK, MAY 6, 1911. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR 
MULE RAISING. 
Good Words for an Abused Friend. 
Mules, much abused and neglected animals, are not 
generally understood by farmers. A mule in the first 
plqce must be of good stock, not an offspring of some 
scrubby mare, but a mare with good breeding quali¬ 
ties. A mule of the mammoth stock is supposed to 
be the best mule under all conditions. Mules are 
cheaper than colts, for the service fee is not generally 
as high. Many people make a mistake in working the 
marc too soon after foaling. Never work a mare 
under 10 days; then she can do light work, but the 
mule must be left in the barn. When the mare is 
brought in from work never allow the mule to suck 
as long as the mare is warm. After a mule is two 
or three weeks old turn it out in a lot 
away from the mare, especially at night, 
for a mule is very hard on a mare, much 
more than colts. When the mule is 
about two months old he may be allowed 
to eat a few oats, about a pint in the 
beginning. Increase as he grows older, 
or the same amount of bran along with 
a little hay; Alfalfa is preferred. At 
the age of five months a mule should 
be weaned, not gradually, but all at 
once. Take it away from the mare and 
never let it suck afterwards. He should 
be put by himself or tied up. At this 
time you can give an ear of corn at a 
meal and a small amount of hay. The 
mule should be turned out in fair 
weather and not left to stand in stable. 
A mule should be made before he is 
a year old. This can be done by good 
breeding and the proper care. It is not 
necessary to give a great quantity of 
food to him in the Winter, but it must 
be of the kind to keep him growing, 
such as Alfalfa hay, silage, corn fodder, 
some corn, and chopped food occasion¬ 
ally. Oats are very good but very ex¬ 
pensive food. In the Spring he may be 
turned out on pasture during the day 
and fed some hay at night and morn¬ 
ing, because grass at this time is very 
washy. As the grass gets older leave 
on pasture, but be sure to have plenty 
of shade and water. A mule should not 
be broken before he is three years old, 
although many are broken before they 
are near this age. With the proper 
handling he will be found to be easier 
to manage than horse colts. I always 
work them beside a good steady horse. 
Do not work mules together until thor- 
ughly broken, or you may have some trouble. After 
this time he may be found to do more and better 
work than a horse colt at the same agethat is, you 
can work him harder. When at this time you may 
say that a mule is easier raised and at less cost than 
horse colts, in that they do not require as much care 
and less food to keep them in good condition, mule 
colts will bring more money than an average horse 
colt, even though he may be blemished in some way. 
He will sell when a blemished horse colt would not 
sell. The mules shown in the picture, Fig. 191 this 
page, will be three years old in the Spring, and have 
not been fed on any grain since they were one year 
old, having been fed on Alfalfa alone, a much more 
economical method than heavy grain feeding. 
ed. m'laughlin. 
Which Is More Profitable, Mules or Horses? years and raise a colt before they are old enough to 
The first thing to look at is the market where they go to market, which should not be earlier than five 
will be sold, and in this case we must discuss it from years. There are times also, because of injury or 
the Pfttsburg view. In this county (Allegheny) the lack of profitable work, when a mare may be put in 
automobile has so nearly displaced the horse for the stud and help pay her way, when a mule would 
pleasure purposes that the few horses left do not be a complete loss. As to the most profitable time, I 
count, and the city firms are putting in auto trucks as should say the mares should be bred so that the foals 
quickly as they can be built. I believe the horse will will not begin to come until after all crops are planted, 
come back, for pleasure purposes, but we have The more exercise and sunshine and work the mare 
watched our own horse boarding business, which over- gets before foaling, the better the foal will be. Every 
flowed a dozen stalls, silently steal away. We have man who writes in a paper—-about once a week—and 
not a single boarder this Winter. We must, there- every man I talk with speaks of his ideal horse as 
fore, look to the farmer and suburban buyer for our “chunky built.” Why should a horse be chunky, i. e., 
market in the next 10 years or more, and supply what short legs, short neck, thick chest, and rolled’ in a 
they want. In regard to mules, I do not know; 1 layer of fat? Strip him, and stand him on the floor 
have not had any personal experience, but consider- and he will look nice, look complete without any 
harness on, and lie may last a year or 
two longer than his tall brother, but 
that is the sum of his merits. His wind 
is not as good as the other kind, but 
first let me describe the other kind; we 
never hear him mentioned and we should 
know him better. We are using a pair 
for the last five years on this farm, used 
in my personal team, that measure 16 
hands ?J/z inches tall, and last week 
when a little over their normal weight 
only weighed 2416 pounds. This is the 
heaviest recorded weight we have of 
them; certainly not chunky, are they? 
When stood on the floor naked most 
persons say they have many faults. They 
are long in the legs, long neck, deep 
shoulders and rather narrow chests; 
they do not carry much flesh, but they 
do carry harness well, look well hitched, 
have wonderful wind, are quick, and 
negotiate snow, mud or soft earth with 
wonderful ease. Your chunky horse 
will not have as good wind nor travel 
as easily over rough going, nor look so 
well in the pleasure vehicle, nor make 
so good saddle horse, nor farm better, 
nor haul a pound heavier load per 
weight of team, and the last year or 
two of the chunky horse is of very 
doubtful advantage, as it is usually a 
very slow and lazy existence. Remem¬ 
ber that I am not urging the 1200 -pound 
horse, but only asking that you keep 
him off the ground. I do not care how 
heavy he is; give him a set of legs to 
walk on, not stumps on which he wad¬ 
dles. This is our experience, covering 
about 20 years, and everything from the 
36-inch Shetland to the registered Clyde. 
A farm or general purpose horse is 
very different from a pampered Hackney for orna¬ 
mental Use. CHARLES J. WOLFE. 
A MULE COLT OF THE RIGHT SORT. Fig. 190. 
Indiana. 
A TEAM OF INDIANA MULES. Fig. 191. 
able observation, and it seems to me that responsibil¬ 
ity rests about as heavily on a mule as upon the 
average Southern darkey. My brother, who is sales 
manager for a large Pittsburg supply house doing a 
heavy trucking business, tells me that a good mule 
has nothing over a good draft horse for teaming pur¬ 
poses, and this man is not a horse lover, but is en¬ 
tirely impartial. I am willing to admit that the mule 
has advantages for pit and plantation use and a few 
others, perhaps, over the horse, but for general farm 
work and teaming the horse is fully his equal. On 
city pavements the horse is superior. 
If a breeder were raising horses he might have one 
colt in 10 more promising than the others worth 
keeping for a sire, that would bring twice the average 
price. Then the mares may be bred at about three 
APPLE CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS. 
The following letter from lion. Henry M. Dunlap 
states conditions as they now appear in the Central 
West. There is considerable arguments as to the relative 
merits of Bordeaux and lime-sulphur. 
I was fortunate in growing and harvesting over 
90,000 bushels of apples last year, while the remainder 
of the State outside this little area of about 25x100 
miles lost out altogether. This was due to a “warm 
streak” in the atmosphere at time of the April freeze. 
With prices good the result has been a fine profit for 
the year. My orchard company is offering three prizes 
for best sprayed orchards among the foremen, 12 in 
number, who have immediate charge of our orchards. 
