6 minute read
HOWLE'S HINTS
HARDWORKING AS A MULE
BY JOHN HOWLE
I feel fortunate that I grew up in Alabama at a time where my grandfather owned a mule that he plowed his garden with. As a young boy, I learned my “gees” and “haws” plowing behind a mule under my grandfather’s guidance. It was a peaceful way to plow because you only heard the sounds of nature as well as the occasional clink of a rock on the plow or the rattle of the trace chains. My grandfather would even tell me when we were hauling square bales of hay,
“Work more like a mule instead of a horse,” he would say. “A mule can work a steady pace all day and a horse works too fast and wears out quickly.”
According to the "Encyclopedia of Alabama," the 1910 agricultural census reported that 60 percent of Alabama’s farms had mules. After WWII, mules quickly began to disappear from the Alabama landscape, replaced by tractors, chemical herbicides and pesticides, and mechanical cotton pickers. The article further states that there were about 5,000 tractors on Alabama farms in 1930, but that number rose to 46,000 by 1950, and this technology move began relegating the mule to a thing of the past.
The mule is the result of a donkey male or stallion mating with a female horse. This results in a sterile animal that has the head of a donkey and the extremities of a horse. In contrast, a hinny is the combination of a male horse and female donkey.
As a general rule, mules live longer than horses, they can perform on poorer quality grain and hay than a horse, and they will quit working when they are exhausted beyond a healthy level, which also resulted in the reputation for being stubborn. Nowadays, you won’t see as many working mules, but there are still a few out there you can view working at farm day shows and events that showcase bygone era farming techniques.
HAY FEEDING OPTIONS
You may be at the height of your cattle hay feeding this time of year. Dropping the bales in rings might be quick and easy for the moment, but the hoof traffic, manure, and rainy days can turn this piece of ground into a quagmire. If your hay has dried grass seeds in it, you can roll out the bales for the cattle to graze. You will certainly lose some hay to trampling, but the cattle will eat most of the hay, and the spring germination and growth of those seeds are well worth the sacrificed hay stomped into the ground.
If the hay you are feeding does not have grass seeds, you might consider dropping these round bales on top of briar patches at the edges of pastures or in thick growth areas you want cleared out. Cattle do an amazing job of disintegrating briar patches and thick shrubs. Also, the hoof traffic in the edge of woods will work the seeds into the ground with a nitrogen-rich combination of manure, mud, and hay straw. This is just one more way the cattle can actually do work for you.
COYOTE CONTROL
This time of year, you might spot coyotes around the edges of your pastures or trotting around looking for food. If the coyotes become too numerous, it may be time to control their population with coyote hunts. You can use electronic calls, mouth calls, or squeakers to bring a wary coyote into range.
When the number of coyotes on your property is controlled, you’ll see big improvements in numbers of young deer and young turkey poults. Coyotes that become too overpopulated can even result in lost calves and other livestock. In January, coyotes will be looking for mates and more responsive to calling. In addition, you might be able to get a shot while feeding cattle. The coyotes will often come into the pastures searching for rodents.
SURVIVAL IN A CAN
No one plans on spending an unexpected night on the side of the road or in the woods when a vehicle breaks down or when temperatures are subfreezing. Even in Alabama, we’ve seen times when sleet hit the roads quickly creating an impassable environment for vehicles. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to keep a metal coffee can or paint can full of a few safety and survival essentials.
A few important items to put in your can are: Hand/body warmers, an emergency space blanket, energy bar or snack bar, bottle of water, a toboggan (we lose 90 percent of our body heat through the head), duct tape wrapped around a pencil, and three candles with a lighter.
If you are in a car that won’t start on an extremely cold night, you can still get dangerously cold. With the three candles, you can light one, drip the wax in the bottom of the can, and stand up the candles lighting each one. It’s amazing the amount of heat that three small candles can generate with the convection effects of the can. Finally, it would be helpful to put some cash in the can as well.
This January, if you have hard work to do, work more like a mule than a horse. You’ll be able to stay with it all day long—at least for the shorter days of winter. Who knows, the mule may one day replace the tractor.
