148 MULES AND MULE BREEDING. 



team is tlie key-note to tlie satisfactory employment of the 

 mule in general for any kind of draught work. It is_, of 

 course, well known that, in camping out, an old white mare, 

 with a bell round her neck, will keep 100 mules from 

 straying. It seems only common sense that, when peculiari- 

 ties of this kind are so well known, a mare should be 

 always, and not occasionally only, employed for this 

 purpose. It will be found that a pair of mares, or even 

 horses, used as the " first leaders ^' will produce the same 

 effect, and that pack mules will equally well follow a horse 

 or mare. Exemplification of this principle, or peculiarity, 

 may be seen in the Old World in the streets of Genoa, and 

 in the New World in those of Philadelphia, or almost any 

 great city in the States. At Genoa it takes the more 

 economical form of a donkey in front of a mule, the latter 

 being harnessed to a cart loaded with two or three tons of 

 material. It would be absurd to suppose that the poor 

 donkey is much good, but he does his best in front of the 

 mule, and the mule seeing this puts his best leg foremost, 

 not, however, without some persuasion on the part of the 

 generally brutal carter. At Philadelphia long strings of 

 mules may be seen drawing railroad cars through the city. 

 They are, or were, mostly known as '^ Lafferty's teams. ^' 

 Each string consists of from twelve to fourteen mules in 

 single file, and each string has a horse or mare in front of 

 the mules, thus recognising the necessity of the mule 

 requiring a "lead.^^ It must not, however, be thought that 

 all mules require a " lead ; '' they differ very much from each 

 other in this respect. Some will go first and do their work 

 honestly ; but it must be accepted as a general rule that, in 

 order to get the maximum amount of work out of a mule 

 team, a horse or mare of some kind should head each team. 

 Neglect of the precaution of always having a small pro- 



