The mule is more steady in his draught, and less likely to waste his strength than the horse, hence more suitable to work with oxen; and as he walks faster, he will habituate them to a faster gait. In plowing among crops, his feet being small and following each other so much more in a line, he seldom treads down the ridges or crops. The facility of instructing him to obey implicitly the voice of the driver is astonishing. The best plowed tillage land I ever saw, I have had performed by two mules tandem, without lines or driver. The mule is capable of enduring labor in a temperature of heat that would be destructive to a horse. Although a large mule will consume something over one-half the food of a horse, yet the saving in shoeing, farrying, and insurance against diseases and accidents, will amount to at least one-half. In addition, the owner may rely with tolerable certainty on the continuance of his mule capital for thirty years; whereas the horse owner must, at the end of fifteen years, look to his crops, his acres, or a bank for the renewal of his. The longevity of a mule is so proverbial, that a purchaser seldom inquires his age. Pliny mentions one 80 years old; and Dr. Rees, two in England, that reached the age of 70. I saw one performing his labor in a cane-mill in the West Indies, which the owner assured me was 40 years old. I have now a mare-mule 25 years old, that I have had in constant work for 21 years. She has often within a year taken a ton weight in a wagon to Boston, five miles, and manifests no diminution of her powers. A neighbor has one 28 years old, which he would not exchange for any horse in the country. One in Maryland, 35 years old, is now as capable of labor as at any former period." Mr. Hood of Maryland, in the American Farmer, estimates the annual expense of a horse for 12 months, at $44, and that of a mule at $22, just half price, and his working age at more than twice that of the horse, and that too after 30 years' experience in keeping both. A correspondent of the Baltimore Patriot, asserts that "Col. John E. Howard had a pair of mules that worked 30 years, after which they were sold to a carter in the city, and performed hard service for several years longer. Many mules 25 years old, and now in this country, perform well. Many have been at hard work for 12 or 15 years, and would now sell for $100 each. They are not subject to the colt's ailments, the glanders, heaves, yellow-water, and colic, like horses; and seldom are afflicted with spavin, ringbones, or bots; and they will not founder." General Shelby says, "he has known mules to travel 12 miles within the hour in light harness, and has himself driven a pair 45 miles in six hours, stopping an hour by the way." Four match mules have been sold in this country for $1,000. They were of course superior animals, and made elegant coach-horses. These animals were driven 80 miles in a day without injury; and they proved a first-rate team for many years.