298 RAYMOND PEARL 



account of the industry he describes the breeding behavior of 

 the jacks in the following words: 



" The jack farm has a large stone breeding barn having closely 

 boarded boxes, in which the jacks are kept. These boxes have 

 no windows and no openings, except a small space left between 

 the ends of the boards and the ceiling for ventilating purposes, 

 the result being that the animals are kept in total darkness. 

 Each box is closed by a strong door, secured by a lock or bars 

 and chains. At one end of the barn a peculiar yet simple arrange- 

 ment to expedite breeding operations is constructed. Its general 

 appearance resembles a pair of extremely heavy, long, narrow 

 wagon shafts. * * * 



" After the mare is placed, with her head to the wall, between 

 these shafts, the manure and straw lying on the ground in her 

 rear are heaped up, or scraped away, in conformity with the 

 size of the mare or jack. The close hitching of the mare to the 

 cross-piece, together with the narrow width of the shafts, does 

 not allow her to move about. If she shows any disposition to 

 kick, hobbles are placed around her fetlocks. The tail is care- 

 fully arranged so as to keep it out of the way. Notwithstanding 

 the great lascivity of the jack, he only demonstrates it in the 

 presence of his natural female, and for this reason artificial 

 means have to be introduced to prepare him for serving mares. 

 These means vary somewhat in the different studs, but by far 

 the most popular is that of singing a song known as the "tre- 

 landage," owing to it being composed of the monosyllables tre 

 and la. This was the method of preparing the jacks on the 

 first farm that I visited. At some haras the pronunciation of 

 certain words in a peculiar tone seems to be in favor; at others 

 a jerky whistling sound is practiced to achieve the desired 

 object, while in some cases the simple act of clanging the door 

 chains, turning the lock, or opening and closing the door several 

 times causes the jack to manifest a keen desire. There are 

 even some, but not many I am told, that do their duty at the 

 first call, without any of these comical formalities. 



" Sometimes it is found necessary to allow the jack to see a 

 female of his own species, the latter being replaced by a mare 

 at the proper moment. When this is done the mare is often 

 draped so as to deceive the jack. Only the owners or the grooms 

 in charge of the different jacks seem to understand the indi- 



