Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1872-11-14
agricultural department.
MULE RAISING.

In Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, the prin-
cipal mule breeding States, almost every farm
er keeps one or more mares which, being reg
ularly bred to the jack, produce mule foal
almost every spring, without any material di-
minution of the work performed by her. In
deed, in many instances the entire work of the
farm is performed by mares which also pro-
duce colt of some kind. These foals are
kept until FIVE or six years old, when they are
usually sold to graziers, who collect droves Of
from twenty to two hundred and keep them
until old enough to put to work, when they
are sent to the southern markets. Three
fourths of the mules that are raised in those
States 20 through this routine. Now, why
should not our farmers raise mules-at any
rate enough for their own use? Under the
old regime, when the working stock of the
farm was committed almost entirely to the
care and tender mercies Of the slave popula-
ton, the raising of colts would have probably
been attended with loss. But it is different
now. For the most part, farmers attend to
their working animals themselves, or, at any
rate, are necessarily present when they are
being cared for by others, and accidents result
ing from carelessless or ill.treatmentare much
less liable to occur If the small farmers es-
pecially, who keep one or two horses and who
always give them their personal attention,
were to raise from each colt, they would find
that it much more than compensates for the
trouble. Furthermore, it will cost little if
any more to raise mule coltto be three years
old than to raise steer to the same age and
one will bring almost if not quite double what
the other will. While mules are fond Of and
thrive upon the richest grasses, yet it is equal
ly true that they will live, and flourish too,
upon the rough pickings of our old field pas
lures and woodlands They are particularly
fond of browsing upon the tender shoots Of
the sassafras and other bushes that infest our
fields, and if kept in sufficient numbers will
exterminate them from any pasture to which
they are confined. I have seen mules leave
the finest blue grass pasture and spend hours
picking among little patch of bushes that
had been permitted to grow up, and continue
to do so day after day until there was nothing
left but the bare stumps. have also seen
mules confined, through the entire summer, to
woods pasture in which there was not par
ticle of grass, and come into the stable in the
fall as fat as those who had all the advantages
of good grass or clover pasture. If the
farmers of each neighborhood would pledge a
sufficient number of mares, there would be no
difficulty in fndingsome one who would bring
jack from Kentucky or southwestern Vir-
ginia, and every county of the State might,
with very little difficulty, raise enough mules
to supply their own wants, and thus avoid the
expenditure of those large sums which 60 an
nually to Kentucky for the purchase Of mules.
For the information of those desirous Of
purchasing, it may be we'll to state that the
Spanish jack is considered best for breeding
mules, and that they can be purchased in the
central counties of Kentucky, at prices rang
ing from $3.50 to $500, depending upon age,
size and breeding qualities Black or dark
colored jacks are the most popular just at
this time, as they give the most saleable COL
ored mules, but there is no other advantage in
them. Who of our farmers will make start
in this matter?
Southern Planter and Farmer.