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The Mule A Treatise on the Breeding, Training, and Uses to Which He May Be Put By: Harvey Riley |
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A TREATISE ON THE BREEDING, TRAINING, AND USES TO WHICH HE MAY BE PUT.
BY HARVEY RILEY, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE GOVERNMENT CORRAL, WASHINGTON
D.C.
1867.
PREFACE. There is no more useful or willing animal than the Mule. And perhaps
there is no other animal so much abused, or so little cared for. Popular
opinion of his nature has not been favorable; and he has had to plod and
work through life against the prejudices of the ignorant. Still, he has
been the great friend of man, in war and in peace serving him well and
faithfully. If he could tell man what he most needed it would be kind
treatment. We all know how much can be done to improve the condition and
advance the comfort of this animal; and he is a true friend of humanity
who does what he can for his benefit. My object in writing this book was
to do what I could toward working out a much needed reform in the
breeding, care, and treatment of these animals. Let me ask that what I
have said in regard to the value of kind treatment be carefully read and
followed. I have had thirty years' experience in the use of this animal,
and during that time have made his nature a study. The result of that
study is, that humanity as well as economy will be best served by
kindness. It has indeed seemed to me that the Government might make a great saving
every year by employing only such teamsters and wagon masters as had
been thoroughly instructed in the treatment and management of animals,
and were in every way qualified to perform their duties properly.
Indeed, it would seem only reasonable not to trust a man with a valuable
team of animals, or perhaps a train, until he had been thoroughly
instructed in their use, and had received a certificate of capacity from
the Quartermaster's Department. If this were done, it would go far to
establish a system that would check that great destruction of animal
life which costs the Government so heavy a sum every year. H.R. WASHINGTON, D.C., April 12, 1867 . NOTE. I have, in another part of this work, spoken of the mule as being free
from splint. Perhaps I should have said that I had never seen one that
had it, notwithstanding the number I have had to do with. There are, I
know, persons who assert that they have seen mules that had it. I ought
to mention here, also, by way of correction, that there is another
ailment the mule does not have in common with the horse, and that is
quarter crack. The same cause that keeps them from having quarter crack
preserves them from splint the want of front action. A great many persons insist that a mule has no marrow in the bones of
his legs. This is a very singular error. The bone of the mule's leg has
a cavity, and is as well filled with marrow as the horse's. It also
varies in just the same proportion as in the horse's leg. The feet of
some mules, however, will crack and split, but in most cases it is the
result of bad shoeing. It at times occurs from a lack of moisture to the
foot; and is seen among mules used in cities, where there are no
facilities for driving them into running water every day, to soften the
feet and keep them moist. CONTENTS. Best Method of Breaking
Value of Kind Treatment
How to Harness
Injured by Working too Young
What the Mule can Endure
Color and Peculiar Habits
Mexican Mules, and Packing
The Agricultural Committee
Working Condition of Mules
Spotted Mules
Mule Breeding and Raising
How Colts should be Handled
Packing Mules
Physical Constitution
Value of Harnessing Properly
Government Wagons
More about Breeding Mules
Ancient History of the Mule
Table of Statistics
14 Portraits of Celebrated Mules
Diseases Common to the Mule, and how they should be treated CHAPTER I.
HOW MULES SHOULD BE TREATED IN BREAKING. I have long had it in contemplation to write something concerning the
mule, in the hope that it might be of benefit to those who had to deal
with him, as well in as out of the army, and make them better acquainted
with his habits and usefulness... Continue reading book >>
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