206 PROFITABLE STOCK RAISING 



The Poitou is a French breed and has been greatly 

 improved in that country by intelligent selection 

 and breeding. Importations into America have 

 been relatively small on account of the large de- 

 mand for them in France and Spain. It is the 

 highest priced of all the European breeds, in- 

 dividuals often selling in France for $3,000. 



MAMMOTH JACKS 



Notwithstanding the excellent qualities of many 

 of the imported breeds of jacks, it is the opinion 

 of most American breeders that better mules will 

 result from the use of the best type of the American- 

 bred jack with a properly blended imported an- 

 cestry. The best strains of American-bred jacks 

 trace their ancestry to Mammoth, a jack early im- 

 ported into Kentucky and generally conceded to be 

 the best individual ever brought to America. The 

 judicious blending of this blood with imported 

 animals of other breeds and careful selection 

 through a good many generations have served to 

 fix type and color quite definitely, and has de- 

 veloped the breed known as the Mammoth jack. 

 It is purely an American breed, from individuals 

 of which most American mules are now produced. 



The hinny is the product of crossing the stallion 

 with the jennet. It resembles the mule in most 

 respects except that it is usually smaller, and has 

 no particular utility which is not possessed in an 

 equal degree by the mule. It is quite common in 

 the West, and is used in mines and for similar 

 purposes. Extravagant claims have been made at 

 times concerning the strength and endurance of 

 these animals, but these qualities are probably no 

 more pronounced than in the mule. 



