THE MULE. 35 



In regard to the draft power of mules, in com- 

 parisoa with horses, there are various opinions ; and 

 yet it is one which ought to be easily settled. I 

 have tested mules to the verv utmost of their strenofth, 

 and it was very rare to find a pair that could draw thirty 

 hundred weight a single year, without being used up com- 

 pletely. I^ow, it is well known that in the northern 

 and western States you can find any number of pairs 

 of horses that will draw thirty-five and forty hun- 

 dred weight anywhere. And they will keep doing it, 

 day after day, and retain their condition. 



There was one great difiiculty the Agricultural Com- 

 mittee of South Carolina had to contend with, and it 

 was this. At the time it had the subject of the mule 

 under consideration, he was not used generally through- 

 out the United States. I can easily understand, there- 

 fore, that the committee obtained its knowledge 

 from the very few persons who had them, and made 

 the best report it could under the circumstances. 

 Indeed, I firmly believe the report was written with the 

 intention of giving correct information, but it failed 

 entirely. In recommending any thing of this kind, 

 great care should be taken not to lead the inexperienced 

 astray, and to give only such facts as are obtained 

 from thorouo^h knowledo^e : and no man should be 

 accepted as authority in the care and treatment of 

 animals, unless he has had long experience with them, 

 and has made them a subject of study. 



A few words more on breaking the mule. Don't 

 fight or abuse him. After you have harnessed him, 

 and he proves to be refractory, keep your own temper, 



