CTR- ,i 
Voi.. LXIX No. 4029 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 15, 19i*. 
WEEKLY, $1.00 PER YEAR. 
MULES ON THE FARM. 
EXPERIENCE OF A PENNSYLVANIA FARMER. 
A Worthy Farm Partner. 
The mule is not a true breed as ordinarily consid¬ 
ered, but is a hybrid. Its importance is so great, 
however, in certain sections of -America, that it is 
worthy of consideration as an important draft animal. 
The mule has been known for many centuries in 
history. In the days of ancient Rome and Greece 
mules served various purposes. Varro, who wrote in 
the first century, B. C., refers to mules in Roman 
agriculture, so also does Columella. The geographical 
distribution of the mule is widespread. He is es¬ 
pecially bred in great perfection in Spain, France, 
Portugal, Italy and certain sections of the United 
States and South America. 
Mule raising in the United States began in colonial 
times. About 1787 George Washington was presented 
by the King of Spain with a jack, which was used in 
stud at Mount Vernon, and sired mules that sold for 
upwards of $200 each. 
me that he never fed a grain of medicine to any of 
them. This pair of mules I knew well for years, and 
they are good for many years to come, although kept 
steadily at work on a large farm. The owner tells 
me that he has been offered good prices for this 
pair, but they have been so faithful that no price 
will buy them. His boys, who are still quite young, 
do all kinds of farm work with them. The owner 
is credited with saying that what the boys don’t 
know, the mules know. 
My experience with the mule is not sd extensive 
*as some of my neighbors, and while I admire a pair 
of good mules I am still not losing sight of our noble 
friend, the horse. In carrying on farm operations 
where more than one team is required, I prefer to 
have horses as well as mules, for when I want to 
take a drive with the family I like to sit back of a 
pair of horses that can “go,” and keep going, but for 
all kinds of farm work, or when making a trip in 
rough weather T prefer the mules. One can take them 
through a chilly rain, or snowstorm, come back to 
The value of the mule as 
a draft animal was soon 
recognized by intelligent 
Southerners. Henry Clay, 
in 1S32, imported a jack 
from Spain to Kentucky 
for use on mares, and 
others followed his ex¬ 
ample. To-day, Ken¬ 
tucky, Tennessee, Mis¬ 
souri, and Texas arc the 
most important produc¬ 
ers of mules, Missouri 
leading, with St. Louis 
the most prominent mule 
market in the world. A 
market report of this city 
some months ago, stated 
that • buyers were there 
for mules from Maine, 
in the East and Wash¬ 
ington in the West, 
where the mule is rapid¬ 
ly taking the place of 
oxen in the lumber 
camps as well as on the 
farms. 
1 he best type of mule 
must show the general 
excellent conformation 
of the horse in symmetry 
of form. The body tends 
to be more cylindrical and smaller than in the horse. 
In the show ring those mules which meet with greatest 
favor possess the horse form in greatest degree. 
Legs of superior quality are find and hard, the bone 
very smooth and dense, the tendons prominent, and 
the muscles well developed. The feet of the mule 
are smaller and longer than those of the horse, and 
the arcb of the foot is greater. In general, the 
mule is distinguished for superior feet and legs. 
The resistance of the mule to disease has been a 
frequent subject of discussion. It is claimed that 
the mule is not so generally subject to disease as 
the horse. A neighbor, a most excellent horseman, 
and also admires the mule, tells me that his father 
was also a dealer in horses and mules quite exten¬ 
sively, that he remembers only of one mule that was 
a “dummy,” and in all his experience with various 
diseases of horses never met one mule with the 
heaves. I might add that this neighbor is far better 
authority in the diseases of domestic animals than 
many a professional veterinarian. Another neighbor, 
who has had one pair of mules for 17 years, tells 
A PAIR OF PENNSYLVANIA MULES. Fig. 13. 
the stable, remove the harness, and need not fear for 
a chronic cough, distemper, etc., as is often the case 
with horses. * • 
In the haying season, when operating two mowing 
machines, oiie with mules, the other with horses, 
although the mules were walking along faster than 
the horses, yet when the noon hour arrived, the 
weather quite hot, I noticed that while the horses 
were thoroughly sweated, the mules would show no 
sweating whatever. In cultivating corn the mule will 
not tramp, as many plants in a day as most horses do 
in an hour. I find that there is considerable prejudice 
against the . mule on the ground that he is a vicious, 
stubborn creature, and that no one is ever safe in 
caring for.him lest he turn his heels on his master. 
If he is such in the majority of cases, he is forced to 
it by brutal treatment. He is gentle and appreciates 
kindness as well as any other farm animal. For 
my part I prefer to buy them as colts, say yearlings, 
for in doing so, one can make his acquaintance with 
them to learn to know their disposition and treat 
them accordingly. In securing a pair like this, one of 
tfran was so much afraid of any person that it was 
impossible to get near him, but by avoiding all kinds 
of rough handling by anyone attending them, getting 
his confidence in us that we will not harm him, he 
proved himself a real pet in the course of three 
months, and also an excellent worker by this time. 
Another quality in his favor is that when idle for a 
few days or even a week, he does not go “crazy” 
with a lot of foolish capers and fancy steps, as does 
a young horse, and consequently holds his own better 
when put to hard work day after day; all he seems 
to require after a day’s work is a chance to have a 
good roll and all is well, and the mule is ready for 
anothcr day’s work. 
For a practical farm team we prefer the medium¬ 
sized mule to either the very large or the very small. 
The largest mules are preferable where the draught 
is heavy, like in a lumber camp or lumber team, but 
for the plow, the mower, the ordinary farm wagon, 
the medium-sized mule is all right. A number of 
mules are brought into this section by dealers, that 
are too small, however, 
for a good farm team, 
light of bone and body, 
and while many of them 
make excellent teams for 
their weight, when of¬ 
fered for sale by the 
farmer, their small size 
is against them. 
C. E. HARPER. 
Pennsylvania. 
CONTRACTS. 
Every woman should 
be thoroughly instructed 
in regard to the great 
risk she runs when she 
signs a contract, more 
especially when she is 
called in to sign one with 
brother, husband, son, or 
other male relative or 
friend. The intimacy and 
confidence of the close 
family relationship, and 
the habit of depending on 
the business judgment of 
the man in question, 
makes it a natural thing 
for her to sign a con¬ 
tract with him, she feel¬ 
ing that it is only a sub¬ 
scribing, in a way, to her 
confidence in his honesty. It sometimes works out 
disastrously in fact, as the following case, doubtless 
only one typical of many thousands, will show. 
A teacher, who had married a man in the agricul¬ 
tural implement business was requested by an agent 
of a large and powerful firm to sign a contract with 
her husband. 
“But why?” she asked. 
“Simply as a matter of form,” they replied. 
That woman was obliged to teach for years, and 
pay thousands of dollars, to save the home she had 
already taught and paid for. In this instance the 
husband and the agent both erred, in keeping her in 
ignorance of the possible consequences of her act, 
and it is to be hoped that reputable companies will 
instruct fheir agents to see that all women signing 
contracts are thus enlightened. This is especially 
needed in the case of farmers in whose wives’ names 
rests the title to the farm, and which is often her 
property, by right, and also in the case of widows. 
Recently the agent of a well-known fertilizer firm 
entered into a contract with a young man whose 
