Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-06-10
MuIes for Farm Work.

muieS Tor r arm WOTk.
The following extract from an adj
dress by j. b. Thompson before an
Ohio farmers institute contains sug-
gestions that certainly deserve
thoughtful consideration in this part
of the country where mules have not
been as much used or as highly appre-
ciated as we believe they deserve to
be:
/ will undertake to show some of the
advantages that the mule has over the
horse. To begin with. the average
period of service of the horse, as given
by veterinary authority. is about ten
years, beginning at the age of three:
and altho some horses last consider
ably longer than this. there are quite
as many that fail before completing
their thirteenth year. The average per-
od of service of the mule is nearly or
quite twenty-five years. He some
times begins to fail at twenty years
old, and III other cases remains as
good as ever until nearly thirty. Few
of his race are worth much after that
age. One mule. in his life time, will
ordinarily do the work of more than
two horses, at an expense each year
from 20 to 80 per cent. less in keep
ing.
Another important consideration is
that the mule thrives best on dry feed
and grain unground. The reverse
suits the horse best as his feed should
be all chopped or ground. His diet
should be light and moist, and corn
is PROFESSIONALLY injurious to him, es-
pecially when he has to bite it from the
cob: but corn is the mules favorite
food--it never appears to have any III
effects upon his system, and nothing
is better adapted to his needs than dry
hay, If it is good and sweet. This Is
an item of some consequence. When
the saving of the miller's toil--never
less than ,one -eighth--and the time and
labor of going to mill are all reckoned
UP, it Will make the aggregate differ
ence between the horses keeping AMI
that of the mule seldom less than 40
per cent. The cost of wintering
mule is computed to be $40 less than
that of q horse. This great saving
In feed. taken in connection with his
readiness to labor, his comparative
freedom from disease, and the num-
Der of years he will work. makes the
calculation largely in favor of the mule
as trusty and valuable servant.
Not only is the mule much better
adapted than the horse to the perform
ance of the labor of the farm, but he
does better in drawing heavily loaded
wagons on the road and is especially
preferable for the movement of ma
chinery, as his movement is much
steadier than that of the horse. The
mule is also much less susceptible to
disease, and when he does fall i'll the
trouble is said to yield much more
readily to treatment than with the
horse. Another and no less important
fact is. he is much less liable to bone
ailments, such as ringbone. SPAWN,
splint. curb, ETC.: his eyes are unques-
tionably stronger than the horses
eyes; mules very seldom lose an eye
except by accident
In purchasing a mule the buyer will
hardly expect to find blemish, and II
he should he will not hesitate to puf-
chase as he would We're he buying
horse with the same kind of a blem-
ish. Again, the mule is convertible
into cash at any time from birth to
old age. and dead mule is such rare
thing that the question arises-what
becomes of all the old mules?