JACKS, JKNNETS AND MUI,ES 105 



that was exhibited at the late Paris Exposition was 

 sold to a South American gentleman for the sum of 

 $3,200. In our own limited experience there we have 

 been made to pay as high as $1,500 for a two-year-old 

 colt. 



Without disparaging the merits of any other breed, 

 for we have the sincerest admiration for some of 

 them, the fact remains that the mules from the Poitou 

 are the largest, heaviest and best to be seen in Europe. 

 I may add, too, that this is accepted as a fact in all 

 mule breeding countries of the continent. 



A very large number of Poitou mules are imported 

 each year to Spain, notably to their chief city, Bar- 

 celona, where they outsell their own native stock. 

 The large firm of San Marti & Sons have been thus 

 importing to that city for years. They supply mules 

 both to the government and to individuals. The 

 senior member of the firm has assisted in the purchase 

 of some of the best jacks that have been imported to 

 this country from Catalonia. For heavy work he 

 has expressed the opinion to the writer that the Poitou 

 mules were unequaled by any race of horses or any 

 other breed of mules. It is true that the mares found 

 in Catalonia are not everything that could be desired. 

 They are, perhaps, better in the south of Spain, but 

 hardly the thing yet for mule breeding, being Spanish 

 barbs, perhaps introduced by the Moors when in pos- 

 session of the country, and continental importations 

 from the Orient. Hence the mules, while they are 

 handsome and active, lack the weight and body re- 

 quired. 



The mares to be found in Poitou are neither the 

 Norman draft nor the Percheron, but are a large, 



