114 MULES AND MULE BBEEDING. 



" In tlie army service mules have been very extensively 

 employed, and increasingly so within a few years. The teams 

 consist of four and six animals, which are found to draw as 

 much as horses, to be more easily maintained, and to endure 

 more hardships. 



" In England, where the donkeys are the property of the poor, 

 and are considered of little value, and where the poorer mares 

 are used for crossing, the resulting mule is an inferior animal, 

 and is employed in very subordinate situations. 



** In the mule we have the size and activity of the horse, 

 combined with the form and hardihood of the ass, while he 

 surpasses both his parents in sure-footedness and in longevity, 

 and has more endurance and greater power of recuperation from 

 fatigue and exhaustion when excessively worked. Well-bred 

 mules are as spirited, and equally active, or even quicker than 

 horses, if perfectly broken. They will walk fast, and in the 

 draught they pull even more steadily. Their intelligence is so 

 great that they may be trained very readily either to the line or 

 to the word, and many splendid, large teams are driven, even 

 over rough ground where there is scarcely any road, perfectly 

 guided by the voice of the teamster. 



" In the production of mules for Grovernment use the jack 

 should be from 14 to 15 hands high, with a good length of 

 body, depth of chest, and with a round barrel, as mdications of 

 a good constitution. He should have heavy, flat-boned limbs, a 

 long, thin face, with fine, thin under jaw-bones. His ears should 

 be carried upright, and they must not be too thick. The animal 

 should have a sprightly temper and appearance, as these 

 qualities will almost always be transmitted to his progeny. 



" The jack must be fed with a view to the maintenance of 

 the greatest physical vigour, so as to produce an even lot of 

 colts, and to this end he should rarely be allowed to serve more 

 than fifty mares during the season of three months. He should 

 be provided with such food as will give him strength without 

 inducing feverishness. Natural exercise, with the freedom of a 

 grass lot, should always be allowed, when practicable. Animals 

 designed for crossing with mares should be kept from any 



