JACKS, JKNNETS AND MULES 23 



I think it wisdom for a man not to keep more stock 

 than he can keep well. Stock farmers often lose by 

 having more animals than they can do justice to. He 

 may have fine, well-bred animals, but if he has neg- 

 lected them and a customer calls to see them an un- 

 favorable impression is made on his mind and he goes 

 home without making a purchase. Now you see the 

 fault is in the owner and not in the stock. 



If my memory serves me correctly, I was shown 

 one of Major Knox's premium jennets that he rated 

 at $2,000. The year that he sold $10,000 worth of 

 jacks and jennets, one of the animals was a three-year- 

 old jack he called Black Mammoth that my old friend, 

 Robert Rains, of Nashville, Tenn., bought especially 

 for a jennet jack. He was a very superior animal and 

 made his mark in Middle Tennessee. Black Mam- 

 moth was a half-brother to my jennet jack, Maringo 

 Mammoth. I think Mr. Rains stood his jack at $40 

 per jennet. That was what I stood my jack at. I am 

 sure I could get competent stockmen who would testify 

 to the best of their belief that Maringo Mammoth and 

 his progeny have been worth to Tennessee $100,000. 

 It is hard to estimate the value of a No. i jennet jack 

 that is producing jacks selling from $1,000 to $3,000, 

 and his jennets $500, frequently, and upwards. One 

 of my neighbors owned a jennet not exceeding four- 

 teen hands high that brought him $10,000 worth of 

 jacks and jennets. I believe the jennet is still living. 

 She was the property of the late H. C. Ezell, of 

 Davidson County, Tennessee (Old Ann is the name). 



When I first knew Mr. H. C. Ezell, which was fifteen 

 or sixteen years ago, he was engaged in farming on a 

 small scale. He farmed jacks on the shares from 



