Domestic Animals / History and description of the horse, mule, cattle, sheep, swine, poultry and farm dogs; with directions for their management, breeding, crossing, rearing, feeding, and preparation for a profitable market; also their diseases and remedies. Together with full directions for the management of the dairy.

by Richard Lamb Allen

THE MULE

Is the hybrid produced by the ass with the mare. How early this animal was bred, is uncertain, but we know he was in high repute in the reign of David, near 3,000 years ago, for he was rode by Absalom, the favorite prince of Israel, on the field of battle. They have from time immemorial been bred in various parts of the East, on the borders of the Mediterranean, and throughout Spain, Portugal, and other countries, many of them being of splendid appearance and of fine qualities. In these countries, they are frequently used by the grandees and nobles, and indeed by royalty itself; and however much they may be undervalued elsewhere, when they are finely bred and trained, and richly caparisoned, they exhibit a stateliness and bearing, that few of the highest bred horses can match.

Breeding Mules in the United States,

Was commenced with much spirit in some of the New England states, soon after the American revolution. The object was not to breed them for their own use, but only as an article of commerce. They were at first shipped exclusively to the West Indies; and afterwards to the South and West, for employment in the various work of the plantation. Indifferent animals, both as sires and dams, were used at first, as any thing which bore the name of mule, then commanded a

ready sale. The progeny were necessarily inferior brutes, and viewed with almost universal derision; and being considered the type of their race, a prejudice was excited against them, which more than half a century has not been sufficient to dispel.

Among a few thinking men at the North, they have been adopted and made highly useful in the various duties of the farm. They have been largely introduced at the South and West, but principally in the slave states, where the management of the team devolves upon the ignorant and heedless. It is there, and in other and hotter climates, that the superior merits of the mule over the horse as a laboring animal, are peculiarly manifest. In many instances they are indifferently fed, hardly worked, and greatly neglected by their drivers; yet they sustain themselves for years, in defiance of usage that would annihilate two generations of horses. Their powers have been largely increased and their merits improved, by the introduction of some of the best Maltese and Spanish Jacks, and the use of large, blood mares. The propriety of this course is seen in the value of the product; for while some of the inferior are unsaleable at $50, others of the same age, and reared under the same circumstances of keep and condition, could not be purchased for $150.

The Breeding, Rearing, and Management of Mules

Is similar to that of colts. They will be found, equally with horses, to repay generous keep and attention, by their increased and rapid growth. But they should not be pampered by high feed, as it not only has a tendency to produce disease, but to form habits of fastidiousness, which materially lessens their economical feeding in after life. The diseases to which mules are subjected, (which are always few, and if properly managed will seldom or ever occur,) require a treatment like that of horses.

The breeding from mules has sometimes been questioned, but it has been demonstrated in several instances. Neither the sexual development nor propensities are wanting, but they are seldom indulged with effect. Mr. Kilby, of Virginia, states in the Farmer's Register, that a mare mule brought two colts from a young horse, which they closely resembled. The first was a male, and died, apparently with staggers, which no treatment could arrest, at six months old. The second was a female, 16 months younger than the first, marked like the

sire, being jet-black, excepting a white foot and star in the forehead, and died at a year old, after two days' illness, notwithstanding the utmost care was bestowed upon it. Successful propagation of this hybrid, however, beyond the first cross, seems to be incompatible with the fixed laws of nature.

With a view of encouraging the substitution of mules for a part of the horses now employed in American husbandry, we give the following testimony from experienced individuals, of great intelligence and careful observation.