Mules lv the United States. i8i 



Australia, he must procure the services of a good Spanish or French bandd, and select a strong 

 active Suffolk Clydesdale or Shire mare of as good a temper as possible. The value of mules as 

 draught animals is very fairly summed up in the following letter, addressed to Tlie Field by a 

 correspondent in Louisiana: — 



"This southern country (Louisiana) is full of mules, and their size certainly cannot be objected 

 to. Our drayman runs three mules, the smallest 15^ hands high, and considered to be a 'good little 

 mule,' the largest i6i hands high, and considered as being a 'good-sized mule' in common 

 parlance. But the largest of these is nothing to the mules employed in the contractors' stables for 

 hauling machinery and heavy articles. A neighbour of mine has twenty mules over 17 hands, and 

 as powerful as any London brewer's horses to be found. Our wealthy coal merchants, Igar and Co., 

 have mules that are perfect pictures, not one less than 16 hands, and they bring their ton of coals 

 along as easily as any cart-horse in England. The forte of the mule lies in the cleanness and 

 flatness of the legs, which are more like the thoroughbred horse than any quarterbred horse ever 

 Vk^ould be, and the foot is small and pointed. There is but one morsel of lumber about the mule of 

 this country, and that only in those that are worked hard and are low in flesh, and then after 

 feeding the belly is distended and unsightly. As for temper and sagacity, they beat the horse, but 

 if not well broke are timid and a little 'skeary.' For work they are admirable, but tlic pace tells on 

 them a little more than on the horse of equal ability. Slow work is their best point, and at that 

 they will beat a horse 25 to 50 per cent., taking their longer life into consideration, and their 

 exemption from disease. In the city railroad lines here there are over 1,000 mules, averaging 

 about I5i hands, used, and not more than twenty horses. They prefer the smaller mules for the 

 city cars, as costing less, eating less, and being a little quicker on their feet. The difference in 

 price here is very great. A horse and mule for the same general purpose would cost relatively 

 $175 and $300. 



"We bought lately for use of house a capital young horse, for $175. He has to take a four- 

 wheeled buggy with two persons through country dirt roads, and is good enough to drive anywhere. 

 A mule at $300 tvould not answer so well, as the ivork zvould become occasionally too fast for him, and 

 it bhnvs them. As for riding, there are exceptions, but generally the shoulder is too low and the 

 back too much arched to render them desirable mounts, and their paces are not good one time out of 

 10,000. The mules used here are by donkeys of enormous size, principally from Spain and Malta, 

 and one-fourth to three-fourths bred mare, of large roomy build. They are raised in Kentucky 

 and Tennessee, where the climate, herbage, and trees, are so much like the middle English counties 

 that there can be no objection to the climate of England in raising them easily and profitably. 

 And another great point in their favour is their early maturity. At three years old they can be 

 used advantageously for all light work, and will last till twenty or twenty-five years old with 

 certainty, barring disease." 



Mules are bred in South America for certain purposes. Mr. George Henry Beaumont, a 

 correspondent of the Live Stock Journal, says of South American mules : " As a rule they 

 give more trouble, kick, and bite harder than horses. They keep much healthier in hot 

 climates than horses ; they are handier in stony, rocky, and all mountainous countries. One 

 mule in such places is worth more than two, if not three, horses, for any work. They are 

 shorter and stronger in the back, and can carry heavier loads than horses of their own size ; 

 they eat much less, and are not so particular as to their food ; they are much surer footed, 

 owing to the formation of the hoof, pastern-joint, and shoulder ; they can carry a load in places 

 where a horse could not travel even without one ; they can travel longer distances than a horse 

 can, and keep in better condition during the journey. I will give an example of this ; The journey 



