G-4« 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
April ft. 
THE MULE AS A FARM ANIMAL. 
The muL is the cheapest work animal 
on the farm. He suits the careless hired 
man and the poor care-taker. Give him 
a good shed, tight on the north and west, 
and open on the south, fitted with long 
racks and troughs. Keep the racks full 
of good hay, corn fodder or good rough- 
age, with plenty of good sound corn, 
oats and bran in the trough, with a sup¬ 
ply of fresh water, and you have all that 
is necessary to take care of the mule. 
When the mules come in from work, 
take off the harness, turn them loose. 
They will lie down and roll, get up and 
take a drink, another roll and then eat 
some hay and grain. In this way the 
mule eats, drinks, and rests all night, 
and when you are ready to work Mr. 
Mule is ready. All you have to do is 
catch him, put on the harness and hitch 
up. No feeding, nor currying, only see 
that the racks and troughs are kept clean 
and plenty of good feed in them. Work 
him hard for six months and he will be 
in better condition than when he com¬ 
menced. 
A mule will not get foundered. He 
will run off, but never gets hurt; he has 
enough wit to stop when he gets in dan¬ 
ger or a tight place. A horse will hurt 
himself, break up wagons, machinery, 
and when scared lose any sense that he 
ever had. A mule will stop short in a 
team, lie down, roll and get up without 
tangling himself up in the harness. If 
he gets over the trace, he will not move, 
if it hurts him, he’s got more sense. He 
will do more work, look better with less 
care than a horse and do the work 
better. 
The young man starting farming 
should purchase two or three good, roomy 
mares 15.2 to 16.2 hands high, weighing 
1,100 to 1,400 pounds, and breed them 
to a first-class jack 15 to 16 hands high, 
and raise some mules. They will pay for 
the farm in a few years. Mares with 
blood tracing to good trotting families 
are better than the heavy draft mares. 
The purebred saddle and trotting bred 
mares averaging around 1,200 to 1,300 
pounds, bred to jacks weighing close to 
1,200, produce the finest class of mules. 
What the young mule eats until ready 
to go to work at two years old would 
hardly be missed. At two years old he 
is ready to earn his keep. A man can 
have a pair of young mules to sell every 
year and another ready to take their 
place in the team. Young mules are 
easily raised. They are less subject to 
blemishes and disease than horses, seldom 
get injured or cut in wire fences. Good, 
quick, active mules with good heads are 
always in demand, those bred from trot- 
ting-bred mares having size commanding 
the best prices. 
I was much surprised two years ago 
when in the West, to see so much differ¬ 
ence in mules. Those bred from draft 
mares had heavy, lop ears, short heavy 
necks, while those down in Kentucky 
had better heads, ears thin and carried 
up, long thin neck, with better action. 
The demand for first-class mules is far 
above the supply, and well-broken mules 
four years old sell anywhere from .$350 
to $700 per pair. Maine lumbermen 
have representatives in the West buying 
the best mules they can find, paying $500 
to $700 a pair for them. This means 
$700 to $1,000 a pair by the time they 
reach the lumber camps. I have a friend 
who buys the mules for one of the large 
Pennsylvania coal companies to be used 
in the mines. He scours the West every 
year in search of mules to meet their 
needs. There is a market for the mule 
wherever there is hauling. He fills a po¬ 
sition which no other animal can. There 
is nothing in sight to take his place. He 
is needed in the mines, lumber camps, 
by railroads and on the farm. 
Mules are becoming scarcer all the 
time. Look around the country and note 
the number of stallions. What does this 
mean? Less mules. You can buy a 
jack that will cost somewhere from $800 
to $1,500. Splendid mule jacks can be 
had for $1,000. A three-year-old jack is 
as good as one five, and is growing into 
money. A three-year-old should be bred 
to about 25 mares; a four-year-old to 50 
and at six he is ready for heavy service. 
Jennets cost about $400 to $500 each. 
Large first-class ones weighing 1,100 
pounds are very profitable, when bred to 
the best jacks. When in Louisville, Ky., 
some time ago I saw one of the most 
attractive animals that I had ever seen. 
A large crowd had collected to inspect 
a “hinnie,” the result of breeding a jen¬ 
net to a finely bred trotting stallion. The 
owner had refused $1,000 for this excep¬ 
tionally fine specimen. No person could 
have guessed his breeding. The long 
thin ears, fine silky coat of hair, thin 
skin, showing every blood vein like whip 
cords, and intelligent head, gave every 
indication of both strength and quickness. 
He was a grand animal and could trot 
in 2:40. A great many “hinnies” are 
being raised and command prices rang¬ 
ing $250 to $400 each. 
Mr. L. M. Monsees says, “There is 
nothing that walks that will beat an old 
jennet for money-making.” A jack may 
earn more for one or two years, but the 
jennet bred to a first-class jack will be¬ 
come the greatest money-maker. The 
mule breeder always has a source of good 
income. “Out in Missouri,” when the 
farmer goes to bank and wants to borrow 
money, the banker asks, “How many 
mules have you?” The farmer says, 
“Fifty good two-year-olds.” The banker 
says, “You can have $5,000. So long as 
coal is mined and railroads are built and 
lumber is hauled, their will be a demand 
for mules.” Grow mules—not one year, 
but every year. Mr. Mule will save you 
money and pay the mortgage. 
Pennsylvania. G. E. morkison. 
CHURN OR CREAMERY. 
“Will it pay to make butter rather 
than draiv milk one-half mile to cream¬ 
ery?” 
We have a number of letters from 
readers who ask whether it will pay them 
better to make butter at home or sell 
the cream. It seems that this question 
depends on many things besides the cows 
or the milk. Here is an argument for 
the creamery. The butter makers will 
be heard from next. 
Take your milk to the creamery. I 
had a session of the home butter-making 
proposition a season, and we would have 
been considerably ahead had we carted 
the milk to the cheese factory a mile 
and a half distant. The next year we 
found it more convenient and satisfactory 
to separate the milk, carry it a half mile 
across fields, place it on a cream route, 
than make butter at home. The year 
we made butter we received better than 
the market price, and the following year 
when cream was sold we received one 
cent less than Elgin. Yet the latter was 
a better proposition. By taking milk 
to a creamery a great amount of bother 
is avoided. At best butter-making on 
the farm is bothersome. The creamery 
is equipped to handle the product, and 
has its system of marketing. You may 
have an exceptionally good market, be 
well equipped and are familiar with farm 
butter-making, which would make the J 
proposition different in your case. I j 
would advise buying some good cream | 
separator, then separate the cream and j 
take it to the creamery. w. j. 
BUTTER FAT AND BUTTER. 
Why will a pound of butterfat make 
more than a pound of butter, when we 
know that a pound is a pound? What 
can I treat my straw with to keep stock 
from eating it? I feed plenty of hay 
and grain, but they insist on eating their 
bedding. T. w. H. 
Abingdon, Md. 
When we speak of butterfat, we mean 
the pure fat of milk. One pound of but¬ 
terfat will make more than a pound of 
butter because in finishing the process 
of butter-making, water, salt, particles 
of curd and a small amount of ash or 
mineral matter are mixed in with the 
butterfat. The average composition of 
butterfat is as follows: Fat 84%; water 
12.73% curd 1.30% salt and ash 1.97%. 
The above composition may vary slight¬ 
ly. When a quantity of fat is given, and 
you wish to estimate the amount of but¬ 
terfat that should result in an ordinary 
churning, divide by six and add the 
quantity to the fat. 
As to your second question, eating 
some straw will not hurt your stock if 
they have plenty of other roughage they 
can get at. However, if you feel sure 
that eating the straw is doing them harm, 
get one of these hand spray pumps and J 
spray kerosene over the bedding. That 
will make them leave the straw alone. 
If you use this you must be careful 
not not to let any kerosene get into the 
milk. Washing the udder or wiping it 
off with a damp cloth is best to make 
John Deere 
Two Way Plow 
The Sulky with the Steel Frame and 
Patent Auto Foot Frame Shift. 
A Few 
i 
Strong 
Features 
All Steel and Malleable Frame—• 
Steel Arch: 
Strong—Light— Durable, Alignments 
Permanent. 
Patent Auto Foot Frame Shift: 
Perfect Control—accurate width of cut. 
Long Malleable Beam Clamps: 
Beams held rigid—uniform cut. 
Automatic Shifting Hitch: 
Clevis always in position. Correct line 
of draft. 
Automatic Horse Lift: 
Pull of team raises bottoms. 
Adjustable Jointers: 
Clamped to beam. Every adjustment. 
Wide Tread: 
No tipping on hillsides. 
Chilled, Full Steel and Combina¬ 
tion Bottoms: 
Every style for Eastern conditions. 
Removable Shin Piece: 
Keen cutting edge—easily renewed. 
Send for John Deere Two-Way Book— 
Handsomely Illustrated in ^colors—Free. 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
STANDARDIZED. 
EASY AND SAFE TO USE 
INEXPENSIVE 
KILLS LICE 
ON AlLJJYE STOCK 
DISINFECTS. 
CLEANSES. 
PURIFIES. 
It has so many uses that It Is 
a necessity on every farm. 
USED IN THE TREATMENT OF MANGE, 
SCAB, RINGWORM, SCRATCHES, ETC. 
Destroys Disease Germs 
DRIVES AWAY FLIES 
For Sale by AH Druggists 
Write for Free Booklets 
PARKE, DAVGS & CO. 
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY 
DETROIT, - - MICHIGAN 
A BOOK FOR YOU—FREE 
“Better Farm Implements and How 
to Use Them” was written for you. It 
contains 169 pages of money making ideas. 
It cost us a large sum to produce. It is 
yours for the asking. Send for package 
No. T. W. 33 before they are all gone. 
A post card will bring you your book. 
John Deere, Moline, Ill. 
Does everything any 4-h. p. engine 
does and somethings no other engine 
can do. The Original Binder Engine. 
Also 2-cylinder 6 k. p. up to 20 h. p. 
CUSHMAN MOTOR WORKS 
2091 N Street. Lincoln. Neb. 
- - 
To Make Concrete Sure 
Look to the cement. It’s the vital thing in con¬ 
crete construction. Clean water, sharp sand and 
gravel—the simple ingredients—of course must be 
good. But when you decide on concrete you 
cannot be too careful in the choice of cement. 
LEHIGH 
PORTLAND 
CEMENT 
has a remarkably high tensile strength 
— due to our scientific manufactur¬ 
ing process. 
Concrete made with Lehigh Cement 
grows stronger each year. “Lehigh” built 
structures do not deteriorate with age or 
depreciate with time. They endure from 
generation to generation. 
Send for our book, “The Modern Farmer”. 
It explains Lehigh Cement and gives com¬ 
plete information on how to build a concrete 
watering trough and other farm structures. 
i , 
LEHIGH PORTLAND CEMENT CO 
501 Young Bldg., Allentown, Pa. 
105 Consumers Bldg., Chicago, Ill. 
Build your Silo of con¬ 
crete. It will be waterproof, 
weatherproof, fireproof, rat- 
proof, and will keep your en¬ 
silage in perfect condition. 
sure. 
R. B. 
