72 MULES AND MULE BREEDING. 



unable to end are tlie severe work that tbe animals are called 

 upon to perform. There is no possible doubt in the minds 

 of any persons who are acquainted with the subject, as will 

 be fully demonstrated in the following chapters, that in 

 endurance, capability of hard labour, economy in keep, 

 longevity, and freedom from disease, mules far surpass 

 horses, and it is these good qualities that have caused them 

 to be almost universally adopted in the south of France, 

 Spain, Italy, and, above all, by our American cousins. In 

 the extensive wheat fields of many thousand acres which 

 are to be found on the prairies of the United States, maj' 

 be seen at one time ten or fifteen reaping machines, each 

 one of which is drawn by a pair of mules, not a single horse 

 or' mare being visible. It may be asked then, what are the 

 circumstances that have rendered mules hitherto so lightly 

 appreciated in this country ? The only answer to be made 

 to this question is, that it is due to the unfounded 

 prejudices which are based upon the most extraordinary 

 ignorance of the merits and characters of the animal. It is 

 difficult to conceive or overstate the want of knowledge 

 and the false ideas that prevail regarding them, and this 

 not only amongst persons who have little knowledge 

 of the subject, but amongst those who are regarded as 

 authorities upon equine subjects. Thus Mr. Eobert 

 Wallace, professor of agriculture in no less an institution 

 than the University of Edinburgh, when writing about 

 mules, in his valuable and practical work " Farm Live 

 Stock," published as recently as 1893, does not appear 

 to know whether the animals are fertile or barren, and 

 states that : — 



" The mule is generally behaved to be ban-en, but is not so in 

 the case of the female mule and the female hinny." 



