THE MULE. 17 



procured, and fourteen of haj, the full allowance was 

 purchased. The surplus resulting from this attracted 

 notice, and many wondered why it was that the Govern- 

 ment did not reduce the forage on the mule. These 

 persons did not for a moment suspect, or imagine, that 

 a three year old mule has so many loose teeth in his 

 mouth as to be hardly able to crack a grain of com, 

 or masticate his oats. 



Another point in that case is this : at three years old, 

 a mule is in a worse condition, generally, than he is at 

 any other period in life. At three, he is more subject 

 to distemper, sore eyes, and inflammation of all parts of 

 the head and body. He becomes quite weak from not 

 being able to eat, gets loose and gaunt, and is at that 

 time more subject and more apt to take contagious 

 diseases than at any other change he may go through. 

 There is but one sure way to remedy this evil. Do not 

 buy three year old mules to put to work that it requires 

 a five or six year old mule to perform. Six three year 

 old mules are just about as fit to travel fifteen miles per 

 day, with an army wagon loaded with twenty-five hun- 

 dred and their forage, as a boy, six years of age, is fit to 

 do a man's work. During the first twelve months of 

 the war, I had charge of one hundred and six mule- 

 teams, and I noticed in particular, that not one solitary 

 mule as high as six years old gave out on the trips that 

 I made with the teams. I also noticed that, on most 

 occasions, the three year olds gave out, or became so leg- 

 weary that they could scarce w^alk out of the way of the 

 swingle- tree, whereas those of four and upward would 

 be bi-ight and brisk, and able to eat their forage when 



