MULE BREEDING IN INDIA. 157 



lethargic, but this failing may generally be got over 

 by allowing them to see another jack perform, when 

 their feeling of jealousy will be aroused, and they will 

 prepare themselves. A jack having been prepared will 

 sometimes require to be lifted on to the mare by two 

 men, each man seizing a fore-leg, and care being taken 

 that he cannot savage the men. He should not be 

 muzzled as a rule. In cases in which the mare is much 

 higher than the jack, the former should be placed in a hole 

 with her head fastened to a strong ring in a post in front, 

 and a quantity of stable dung placed behind and firmly 

 trodden down to the required height, which may in some 

 cases be up to the hocks. This is the usual custom in France, 

 Spain, and Italy. In the United States the jack is raised 

 on a kind of platform, but, having tried both plans, I 

 incline to the former as the better and less dangerous 

 method. It is imperatively necessary that the mare be 

 hobbled. The neglect of this precaution frequently results 

 in broken legs and other injuries. 



Rearing Jacks for Mule-hreeding. — Looking at the 

 fact that certain Punjabi, Bokhara, Persian, and, in the 

 first instance, Arab donkeys have been considered good 

 enough to use as jacks, it is fair to presume that among 

 these breeds some jennies can be found good enough to 

 continue the race of mule getters when crossed once or 

 twice with the imported European jacks. In Mexico — and, 

 I am informed, in Persia — immediately a jack is born he is 

 taken from the jenny and handed over to a mare to suckle 

 and bring up. This plan requires very considerable care to 

 get the mare to take to the jack foal. It is, however, quite 

 the best. If this arrangement cannot be carried out, the 

 young jack may be reared by his own dam, weaned at six 

 months, and then brought up till he is two or three years 



