esm 
146 THE CULTIVATOR. 
bear the smallest proportion, to the amount of sales from 
his plantation! For what, after all, is the true desidera¬ 
tum ? Is it not to achieve the greatest results, by means 
the least expensive, to the end that the nett profit should 
be increased in proportion? So much for the premiums 
offered for horses. These remarks which have been ve¬ 
ry hastily sketched, in a spirit of warm approbation of 
the objects of the society, and admiration of the patriotic 
zeal of its founders, will be more fully illustrated, per¬ 
haps more justly and kindly appreciated, when I come 
to speak of Mules and Cattle. Washington City, July 23. 
HORSES AND MULES. 
On the Comparative Value and Economy of Horses and 
Mules, being a review of the Premiums offered by the Ag¬ 
ricultural Society of Prince George's County, Md —By I. 
S. Skinnee. 
The prejudice against the Mule, seems to be as invete¬ 
rate as that which impels the the “heel” of every son 
of Adam to “bruise the serpent’s head;” alike whether 
it be the head of the innocent water, or the harmless 
black snake, or the viper or copper head, bloated with 
poison. Does this aversion to breeding Mules, owe its 
origin too, to a divine command—“ thou shalt not let 
thy cattle gender with a diverse kind?” But the same 
prohibitory command addressed to the Jews, forbade al¬ 
so the “ mixture of seed,” yet who deems it therefore 
unchristian to mingle the seed of clover and timothy? 
Instead of this invidious distinction by the Committee, 
in favor of the Horse, offering the highest premiums for 
that very expensive animal, in all his ages, forms and 
sexes—young and old, quick and slow, male and female; 
it were better, we should think, to have held up the high¬ 
est premium to him wdiose Mule power should bear the 
greatest, and Horse power the least proportion, the one to 
the other, in use on his plantation! As for rewarding the 
mere exhibition of the “ best pair of Mules,” what length 
of merit can be discerned in that, unless it be that it im¬ 
plies length of purse to give the highest price? If dri¬ 
ven to the ground in the owner’s own carriage, in lieu 
of a pair of $500 Vermont horses, that would be quite a 
different matter. The mode of taking the last census was 
very defective in many respects: for example, it only 
gives us the number of “ Horses and Mules” in the ag¬ 
gregate; while here, at once, is an agricultural problem 
which requires for its investigation, that we should have 
accurately and separately stated, the number of each. 
Twenty years ago it was estimated that the horses in 
England consumed the product of twenty millions of 
highly cultivated acres; and Sir John Sinclair calculated 
the keep of one horse to be equal to the product of five 
acres. Let us suppose constant work to be provided, as 
it should be, for every horse that is kept on a plantation; 
does not true economy, as well as humanity and justice, 
demand that each so worked, should be well fed; and if 
so, may not each horse be estimated to consume, at 2^ 
gallons a day, $56 of corn. Add to this, $14 for other 
provender, and shoeing and physicking; and you have 
an outlay of not less than $75 a year, for every work 
horse, to say nothing of idle brood mares, colts, carriage 
horses, and other non-producers; a sum for each horse 
equal to the purchase of a first rate mule, while the ave¬ 
rage life of the former will not more than half equal that 
of the latter. 
Among planters in the South, whose position and cir¬ 
cumstances are so identical with those of Maryland, the 
economy and advantages of the mule over the horse, are 
universally admitted. The report of an Agricultural So¬ 
ciety of South Carolina, in relation to this subject, may 
here be quoted where it asserts: “ The mule is more ea¬ 
sily raised than the horse, more able to bear heavy bur¬ 
dens, equally strong for the draft, more patient, equally 
docile, will live twice or thrice as long, capable of en¬ 
during much more labor, will do as much work in the 
same time, and will not be more than one-half the ex¬ 
pense, as they will not eat more than one-half the grain, 
will make use of long forage which the delicacy of the 
horse will reject, and will bear the heat full as well, per¬ 
haps better.” 
Should not these considerations induce planters to pon¬ 
der and reflect how far it is expedient to aggravate, by 
their highest honors and rewards, that natural and costly 
predilection of our countrymen for horses, which may be 
said already to amount to a passion—one which had its 
origin in deeds and days long past of 
-Christian service and true chivalry;” 
but no more congenial with this utilitarian, money-sav¬ 
ing age of ours, than would be the vagaries of the Knight 
of La Mancha himself. 
The last census gives for Prince George’s county, Md. 
4,648 horses and mules. This we believe to be much 
short of the real number. The aggregate of both for the 
State, is returned at 92,220. 
It is not extravagant to assume that 60,000 horses in 
Maryland, might be well superseded by mules, and taking 
only ten dollars as the clear saving for each, here would 
be a reduction of annual expenditure—in other words, an 
increase of income amounting to 600,000 dollars, equal 
to the interest on the State’s debt. 
In all steady continued draft, as in threshing, grinding, 
and other machinery, now so much in vogue, the excel¬ 
lence of the mule is most remarkable, and especially in 
his less liability to gald —an evil to which the horse is 
peculiarly subject, where his locomotion in harness is 
circular. On their value in sendee that consists of con¬ 
stant, steady hauling, an extract may here be made from 
some editorial remarks in an old volume of the Ameri¬ 
can Farmer, then conducted by Mr. Skinner, now of 
Washington. Speaking of the decided preference given 
by the late General Ridgely, of Hampton, to mules, in 
the heavy hauling connected with his iron works, it is 
observed:—“ For some time the General indulged an old 
servant in keeping a single team of horses, but it was 
found that the mule teams performed their day’s journey, 
hauling equal weight, sooner than the horses by one 
hour; and the greater value of the mules has been so 
well established, in the course of his ample experience, 
that they have superseded horses, with entire conviction 
of the great saving accomplished by the change. This 
information, first derived from his manager, Mr. Green, 
was fully confirmed by the General himself.” 
Why then, let it be repeated, in reference to these two 
animals, make fish of one and flesh of the other!—offer¬ 
ing $76 in premiums for the Horse, and $15 only, for 
“Jack, Jenny and Mules?” And that too under the au¬ 
thority and sanction of gentlemen, who cannot be too 
much admired for their public spirit and honorable in¬ 
tentions; nor too closely imitated in their individual 
practice and general management? 
As to the more general use of the mule in light har¬ 
ness for the road, the common impression is, that he 
can’t be made to travel fast enough. No body likes rapid 
motion more than the writer of these crude but well 
meant and respectful strictures; and he would take leave 
to inquire, who has given to this neglected hybrid, a pa¬ 
tient and fair trial, to see how muen his speed may be 
improved? Let it be considered how long it takes to 
bring a crack trotter, such as Ripton or Confidence, to his 
best! Hiram Woodruff or Bill Wheelan, the American 
Ciiifneys among trotting jockies, never think of taking a 
horse in hand, to train him for this pace, until after he 
reaches his sixth or seventh year; and they can hardly 
be said to get to their best work, until they fall into their 
teens. Old Topgallant performed his chef d'amvres after 
he was twenty! When the mule has been in like man¬ 
ner taken up, and systematically trained for the trot, and 
it is found that he cannot be driven at the rate of eight 
miles an hour, it will be time enough to pronounce him 
impracticable in that pace; but the writer knows him to 
be master of that rate, for he has ridden with two others 
besides General James Shelby, who drives nothing else 
in his private carriage, from Lexington out to his mag¬ 
nificent blue grass farm, eight miles from Lexington, be¬ 
hind two mules of about 15 hands, within the hour, and 
without a touch of the whip; anti learned from the Ge¬ 
neral that he had driven a pair to the Blue-lick, a dis¬ 
tance of forty miles, in six hours, stopping one hour on 
the way. 
In lieu then of some of the premiums bestowed on 
breeding stock to give animals of slow draft, and on suck¬ 
ing colts, would it not be more politic to lend the coun¬ 
tenance of the society to the rearing and more general 
adoption, for the road as well as for the field, of a more 
economical and enduring animal power? Might not a 
premium be well offered in the shape of a set of knitting 
needles in a silver case, or a butter cooler of ground glass 
with a cow reposing on its silver lid, to the wife of the 
planter, who shall accompany him to the cattle show, in 
a plain light carriage drawn by the pair of best broke 
Mules? To the wife, because it is doubtful whether, with¬ 
out her ladyship’s consent, this great desideratum in ru¬ 
ral economy ever can, or perhaps, we should add, ever 
ought to be achieved! \Vere it to be imagined that the 
fact would have any weight with our republican house 
wives, it might be added that the medals struck in honor 
of Agrippina, a heroine whose life was adorned with the 
most noble virtues, bear on them the image of a mule; 
and a gentlemen at my elbow reminds me, that he has 
seen Charles X., setting out for his Royal Palace at Fon¬ 
tainebleau, 13 leagues from Paris, driving six splendid 
black Spanish Mules, of Andalusian blood! But it would 
be a libel, of which I should never be guilty, to suppose 
that an American matron could be influenced by any mo¬ 
tive so strong as her ambition to promote the indepen¬ 
dence of her husband; and to set to her friends andneigh- 
bors an example of economy and good sense. 
“Whoso findeth [such] a wife, findeth a good thing.” 
SHEEP HUSBANDRY, &c. 
Messes. Gayloed & Ttjckee —I see by Mr. Morrel's 
and Mr. Grove’s communications, that they strongly urge 
a “discussion” on crossing sheep. I must firstask them 
whether the Merino and Saxony are distinct breeds? Se¬ 
condly, I appeal to Mr. Grove, for the derivation of 
“ Saxony Merino.” I have always considered the Meri¬ 
no to be a coarser wool than the Saxony, varying as much 
as the Cotswold and Leicester, and my strict observation 
would pronounce them quite different. The fleece is the 
“best” criterion to judge of a sheep’s constitution; the 
coarser, the more hardy, both in fine and long wool; and 
as I now' understand Mr. Grove, his flock is a cross be¬ 
tween the two. I only surmise this from the “ name he 
has given them.” The information I glean from Mr. Jew¬ 
ett, the “ Paular Merino” differs from either. Thirdly, 
I ask Mr. M. and Mr. G., whether they mean that the 
public have been “ humbugged already,” by the high 
prices the Merinoes brought, or whether it is considered 
“quackery” in adopting a judicious cross ? 
Now, gentlemen, let us start fair, without “ humbug,” 
and with “facts” for our standard. 
The Merino, Saxony, Paular Merino, and South Down, 
all come under the denomination of fine wool sheep, and 
there seems a plausibleness in my mind, that they can 
materially assist each other. I believe it is generally ad¬ 
mitted that neither the Merino or Saxony are mutton 
sheep, and that the community must look for food before 
a fine broadcloth. This granted, I say the carcass should 
be the first consideration; and if Mr. G. will “ hark back 
to a fault,” I think he will find it so. A good fat wether 
in a farmer’s larder, is a very useful and substantial sup¬ 
port, when he possesses a number of faithful industrious 
laborers, wdio cannot work as well as they ought, without 
some indulgence in their diet. I ask Mr. G. whether 
mutton is worth more than twenty-five cents per pound 
in Germany, (for which the Bostonians are paying, by 
the steamers, exported from England;) and is it not worse 
to be “ dependent on Europe” for food, than fine cloth¬ 
ing? If the “ dandy” is determined to wear a fancy coat, 
let him pay for it. 
I saw a ci-oss between the South Down and Merino, 
bred by Mr. Haines, of Hallowel, Maine, that appeared 
like a very useful and serviceable sheep, and in my opin¬ 
ion, better adapted for a farmer that shears and wears 
his own fleece, than the latter. Mr. H. said it was fine 
enough for any purpose he wanted; he could sell his 
lambs and wethers to the butcher more readily, and at 
higher prices than his neighboi’s, and that it was his de¬ 
cided intention to continue the cross; but more of this 
hereafter. 
I give my positive protest against crossing the long 
wool with the fine, but I have seen wonderful improve¬ 
ments made in crossing the different breeds of the form¬ 
er, and I see no “px’oof” to the contrary, why the same 
principle will not apply to the latter. I have seen it tried 
very successfully, and will give my ideas on the subject, 
when Mr. M. and Mr. G. have answered my questions. 
Mr. Groves, in speaking of the long wool sheep, says, 
“ That they possess good qualities, is undeniable, but 
these can clearly be ti-aced to high keeping.” Probably 
Mr. G. will meet with more difficulty in proving this as¬ 
sertion, than he did in making it. I think I can “ clear¬ 
ly” prove to the conti’ary. I will produce four Cotswold 
ewes at the Fail’, that crossed the ocean last wintei’, 
through a long and sevei-e passage, remained shut up in 
a close stable in New-Yorlr, a fornight after landing, 
came to Albany on the 15th of March, and lived on no¬ 
thing but hay until they were tux-ned out to gi’ass; and in 
the month of May they fared harder than any sheep in 
the country; (this is not my practice, but I was deter¬ 
mined to show how hard they would live, to prove the 
unjust remarks made by their opponents.) On the 21st 
of June, I weaned their lambs, turned them into good 
pasture, and when they appear for exhibition, they will 
speak for themselves. If Mr. G. calls this “ forcing, or 
high keeping,” I should like him to give you a statement 
how he feeds his sheep. I will also produce the four 
fleeces with them, against four of Mr. G.’s “best” ewe’s 
fleeces, the whole shall be sent to an impartial market for 
their different purposes, to see which will produce the 
greatest return. The eight ewes shall be kept a month, 
or the whole winter, by an impartial practical farmer; the 
amount of food weighed to them, of equal quality, to 
“ prove” which require the “ highest keeping;” then 
“facts” will tell, and all dispute is ended. 
It has been the custom in England, for many years, to 
turn lambs into turneps, to pick out the weeds and grass, 
after hoeing; I have practiced this ever since I was 
shepherd for my father, at the age of sixteen, and have 
derived much benefit both to the lambs and turneps. I 
have fifty lambs now in eight acres, and it seems to won¬ 
der the passers by; some of whom are considered tho¬ 
rough practical farmers. As it does not appear to oe ge¬ 
nerally known, I tell you, that a lamb will not touch a 
turnep until it is forced to it; as long as there ai-e any 
weeds, and grass, 7 they will not injure them, out as soon 
as they take to them will eat them with avidity; if the 
ewes are fed upon them in the spring, the lamos are more 
liable to do injury when first turned in, which will soon 
be pei-ceived. 
You may enter my name with the “Norman’s Kill” 
plowman. Also, with the Connecticut gentleman for a 
two years old Bull, even if he has an “ugly customer.” 
I leave the rest until more propositions are made. I say 
again with Mr. Groves, “ don’t be afraid,” a faint heart 
never won. Mr. Commentator should “ touch the tender 
spots;” “that is the only place where the mischief lies,” 
as the Irishman said when he hit his restive horse over 
the head. As long as he tells the “truth,” he needs no 
apology for the “offence.” It is the plow that pulverises 
the soil, and without that it will never grow the crop it 
is capable; therefore, a thorough good plowman is a ve- 
ry valuable man, and possesses one of the most impor¬ 
tant secrets of good fai-ming. It is my opinion that eve¬ 
ry farmer should understand the practical part in all its 
branches, or he is incapable of directing his men; the 
best test of agricultural ability, is to exhibit your own 
skill; the plow is the first object, and no man need be 
ashamed to follow it. Farmers, come up to the mark, and 
try the Norman’s Kill plowman; endorse his spirit, and 
let the plowed surface show that your superior workman¬ 
ship is a good example; then let us try some other use¬ 
ful branches of our profession—it is the only true way 
of coming to the point—it is easy to write, but not so 
“ easily” practiced. W. H. Sotham. 
A FREAK OF NATURE. 
Editoks of the Cultivatoh —For the amusement 
of your wonder-loving readers, let me tell you that I 
knew a farmer some years ago, by the name of William 
Mickle, residing in Surry co. N. C., who owned a cow 
that had four bull calves at one litter. I am not quite 
sure, but I believe that he raised them all, and made two 
yoke of oxen of them. This is telling about a great ma¬ 
ny calves at once, but the fact can be proven. 
South Bend, la. July 13, 1842. T. W. Beay. 
