The Lambertville press. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1858-1???, 1858-11-25
Mules VS.. Horses.

"Will it pay to raise Mules or Horses, either
for Farm Purposes or the Market
| understand that to mean, which will put the
most money in the farmers pocket in given
time, mules or horses And if the old adage
be rue-"A penny saved is as good as a
penny earned, u think there is no doubt but
mules pay best. For all the labor of farm, a
good sized mule is equal in all respects to 81
good sized horse. This no one will dispute
who is accustomed to both But there is this
difference in favor of the mule he will perform
| the same labor upon two-thirdls the amount of
food that the horse will consume. Here, then
is saving of one-third, which will enable the
farmer to keep three mules when he could only
keep two horses. Their cash value is about the
same.
Another item will be saved in the shoeing of
mules Owing to the hardness of the mules
feet and their slow growth, shoes once on need
not be removed until worn out; and their bod
les being light the Shoes wear d long time. l
think | am within bounds, when | say mule
can be kept shod the year round for one-third
the cost of keeping q horse shod the same length
of time.
Then their durability should be taken into
account. But few horses survive twenty, and
think may say with safety that the majority
are used up by the time they arrive at fifteen
years of age Not so with the mule. Some in
this country which are known to be from eigh-
teen to twenty-five years OF age are still good
mules, still at labor, and from all appearances
will be for the next ten years. they are not
failing in the least yet. Then mules are not
near SO liable to diseases and accidents as the
horse. 1t is a rare thing to see blind mule,
and very seldom that they are sick. Although
mules have been used to a considerable extent
in this neighborhood for number OF years, [
have heard of but one that has been in the
least diseased, while on the other hand many
horses have died by different diseases. Mules
are often charged with being vicious, but this
need not be so; if they are handled carefully
and kindly while young, they will be equally as
docle as the horse.
| am confident that were it not for the preiu-
dice existing against the mule, he would pull
himself into favor wherever land is to pillow or
wagons to pull And he is not whit behind
the horse for the saddle or the carriage, though
! acknowledge person feels rather too low up
on mule But they are far more sure-footed
than the horse they are much more true to
pull, and they are quicker travellers before a
load than the horse. Now, if all these savings
are put together, / think it will make good
large penny saved by employing mules instead
of horses
But there is another feature of the text,
which we will say little about before we quit
this subject Which acal pay best to raise for
market, mules or horses The great advan-
tage mules have over horses, is, that they can be
sold for their worth at any time. The small
farmer can keep his mules colts until weaving
time, and then sell them at a better price than
he could get for horse colts, while those who are
preparation keeping them longer, can do SO at a
prollt, and at three years old they will bring as
much as horses will at fye And as | before
stated, 1t will not cost more than two-thirds as
much to raise them. | am fully convinced it is
more profitable to raise mules than horses, either
to sell or keep.-1b