]08 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



he throws out as instinctively when startled, irritated or approached by * 

 stransrer, as a cat thrusts out her claws. It has been remarked that 

 "when a mule gets perfectly gentle, he is unfit for service;" and that, 

 taken in connection with the prevailing method of training him, is doubt- 

 less true ; but there is a better way, and, if followed, it would result m 

 we have stated above. 



Now, while the mule is not adapted to everything, and endowed with 

 powers that are adequate to endure starvation and brutal treatment while 

 in the performance of hard and faithful service, he is admirably calcu- 

 lated to meet many of the wants of individuals and corporations ; and his 

 breeding, rearing and training are matters for intelligent consideration. 

 For supplying the army he cannot be replaced ; for towing canal boats 

 he answers admirably ; for hauling cars inside of coal mines, he is indis- 

 pensable ; for the general knock-about work of a farm he is good in all 

 temperate climates ; and in a cotton and sugar country, where it is warm 

 and sandy, he is most especially valuable. Though he cannot endure 

 everything and still meet every requirement of a heartless task-master, he 

 is yet gifted with a hardihood that is admirable, and recuperative powers 

 that are astonishing. Seemingly half dead, utterly broken down and 

 worthless, he Avill, with a little rest and care, soon be again ready for 

 service. 



In breeding for mules no less attention should be paid to the selection 

 of suitable mares and a suitable jack than in the case of horses. It is 

 folly to use old, worn-out, diseased, ill-formed, ill-conditioned mares, and 

 yet hope to obtain a good foal. As a general thing a great, overgrown, 

 long-legged mule is next to worthless. He is expensive to keep and 

 unreliable as a worker — lacking wind, strength and nimbleness. The 

 medium-sized, clean, compact mule is by all odds the best, unless a team 

 can be found to combine more than the ordinary height with round bodies, 

 not disclosed to fleshiness, and larger, stronger legs than usual, with feet 

 above the common size — which is seldom the case. The Spanish or 

 Mexican mule — the offspring of stout, close-built, active Mustang or 

 Mexican mares is superior in endurance to any known in the United 

 States. He requires less food, takes it quicker, and is always in bettei 

 fix for travel. If it is more profitable to raise good animals than poor 

 ones, (and no man of ordinary intelligence can doubt this proposition), 

 select mares for mule bearing that are sound, compactly built, and yet 

 without any contractedness of body — active, strong, every way service- 

 able. Then, the choice of a suitable jack is important — doubly so from 

 the fact that the great majority of mares breed after the jack in the 

 matter of legs and feet, and, if it is a good and powerful jack, the foal 

 will generally bear his marks, which is a matter of some imnortauce. 



