This article provides additional empirical evidence concerning the choice of the mule as the dominant draft animal in southern agricultural production in the latter 19th and early 20th century. While the mule was uniquely suited to the crops and climate of the region, two divergent arguments have been presented as to why the mule was the dominant draft animal in southern agricultural production. This research reevaluates these arguments and provides evidence that it was, in fact, the characteristics of this hybrid that made it the preferred draft animal for the South.

An important aspect of structural change in the U.S. hog industry has been the adoption of breeding technology. The adoption of each of four breeding technologies, weekly farrowing, intensive breeding, terminal crossbreeding, and artificial insemination, in U.S. hog production is analyzed using multivariate probit analysis. Results suggest that diversification, whether the producer raised breeding stock, debt and asset levels, and producer's education influence adoption rate. Larger, more risk-averse producers were more likely to adopt technology. Producers who rated the quality of labor available as higher were more likely to adopt management-intensive technologies.

Grape quality and the nature of market demand played a major role in determining the organizational structure of the wine industry in the three decades prior to 1914. In contrast to Europe where grape growing and winemaking were specialist activities, in the New World winemaking and selling were often integrated. This encouraged the appearance of large industrial wineries producing wines that could be branded. Differences within the New World itself can be attributable to the nature of demand and, in particular, to whether wine was considered an article of primary consumption (Argentina), or whether it competed with other, more popular alcoholic beverages such as beer and spirits (Australia and California).