JACKS, JENNETS AND MULES I3 



the animal kingdom and the vegetable kingdom should 

 go together. 



SECTION THIRD. 



Some years before the Civil War I visited the blue 

 grass regions of Kentucky and found the farmers had 

 nearly all of their lands down in grass. They kept, 

 perhaps, two fields — one for corn and another for 

 wheat — and a garden; the balance all in blue grass. 

 I thought they, as a people, had more time for social 

 enjoyment than any farmers I had ever seen. When 

 we would call at a man's house to look at stock, after 

 showing his own he would propose taking us to see 

 his neighbors'. We found the Kentuckians very hos- 

 pitable and generous. They did not appear to be en- 

 vious or jealous of each other like some people en- 

 gaged in the same business. If they had animals that 

 had blemishes that were not perceptible they would 

 point them out to you. A stock breeder cannot afford 

 to sell blemished stock without making it known ; he 

 will be more damaged by it than the purchaser. 



Our lands during the days of slavery had been cul- 

 tivated in cotton, until the soil was very much ex- 

 hausted, and was needing a change to small grain 

 and grass, with more and better stock, in order to re- 

 suscitate them and make them more remunerative. 



During one of my visits to Kentucky with my 

 brother, the late Gen. J. M. Knight, for the purpose 

 of attending the fairs and looking at the different kinds 

 of stock, with a view of making purchases for the 

 benefit of our own section of country, Middle Ten- 

 nessee (Murfreesboro was our home at that time), 

 after visiting the best blue grass regions of Ken- 

 tucky, and seeing the most improved stock of that 



