THE MULE 195 



The market classes of mules vary more or less, according to 

 the region of country where the market is held. The leading 

 American mule markets where classifications obtain are St. Louis, 

 Chicago, Kansas City, Louisville, and New Orleans. Mr. R. C. 

 Obrecht has given a classification 1 which comprises mining, 

 cotton, sugar, farm, and draft mules. Mr. John Grant of the 

 Kansas City yards states 2 that the principal classes of mules 

 known to the market are cotton, lumber, railroad, sugar, farm, 

 levee, city, and miners. The author has arranged the following 

 classification, reproduced here from another publication of his, 3 

 which will have a fairly general application. 



Plantation mules represent a certain class suited to farm work, 

 especially in the South. They may be divided into two subclasses 

 sugar and cotton mules. These are the larger, better-class mules 

 on the market. Sugar mules stand from 16 to i6-|- hands high 

 and weigh from 1 100 to 1400 pounds. These are breedy looking, 

 show quality and finish, and have strong bone. They especially 

 show refinement of head and neck. Cotton mules stand from 

 I3-J- to 15 J hands high and weigh 900 to noo pounds. They 

 are not of such uniformly high quality as sugar mules, ranging 

 from light to medium in bone, though they show smooth finish. 

 They have small, neat heads and attractive conformation. Cotton 

 mules are very common in the Southwest. Curtis says 4 "this 

 type of mule is of still lighter build than the surface mining 

 mule. The body is inclined to be somewhat rangy, the bone 

 small, and the body upstanding. The quality should be uniform 

 and of about the same standard as that possessed by the mining 

 mule, the difference being in favor of the latter." 



Draft mules are large, heavy-boned mules that carry more 

 weight than any other class. They are often divided into two sub- 

 classes, namely, lumber and railroad mules. The draft class of 

 mule should be large, the body deep and closely coupled, the 

 back short and strong, the croup not too drooping, the thighs 

 and gaskins heavily muscled, the bone heavy, and the feet large. 



1 Market Classes and Grades of Horses and Mules, Bulletin 122, Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, 1908. 



2 National Stockman and Farmer, October 12, 1905. 



3 Judging Farm Animals (1916), Fig. 299, 590 pages. 



4 The Fundamentals of Live Stock Judging and Selection, 1915. 



