REMARKS ON THE USE OF MULES. 147 



using tlie worst possible kind of common country ponies as 

 sires, and probably breeding- them because the donkeys 

 have become so much deteriorated that they are of very 

 little use. The Irish, at all events, would seem to have 

 benefited by their proceedings. For the above informa- 

 tion regarding Irish jennets the writer is indebted to 

 Mr. Frederick Wrench, of the Irish Land Commission. A 

 great many jennets are bred in the neighbourhood of 

 Naples, and also in Sardinia. 



It is now proposed to add a few final and practical remarks 

 on the use of mules. It must always be remembered that 

 a mule is not a natural animal, but that he is rather the 

 invention of man. He has been aptly described as an 

 animal with ^''no ancestry, and no hope of posterity .'' 

 Brought up by the side of the mare (his dam), he adores 

 the whole horse tribe, and hates the asinine race generally. 

 He is always nervous, and afraid of strangers. Whilst he 

 is a ^^ natural puller,^' and has enormous strength, he is loth 

 to make use of it to the utmost unless he has a ^^ lead^^ given 

 him. This ^^lead^^ should be always, if possible, a horse, or, 

 better still, a white mare. It seems curious that, while this 

 peculiarity has long been known in Spain and Italy (where 

 the diligence always had a horse of some sort or other in 

 front of the mules to give them a lead), it has only been 

 partially recognised in other countries (our own colonies 

 for instance) where the mule has been adopted. Thus at 

 the Cape, in the coaches, a mare is sometimes put to run 

 hy the side of the mule team. The mare should be in 

 front of the whole team, as one of a pair with a mule, but 

 always in front. The mules will follow ber, and, being 

 creatures of imitation, will do their work much more 

 willingly and with less whip. 



The employment of a mare driven in front of a mule 



L 2 



