One of fifteen hands high should not weigh over one thousand pounds.  If he does, his legs will in a very short time give out, and he will have to go to the hospital.  In working a mule with too much flesh, it will produce curbs, spavin, ringbone, or crooked hocks.  The muscles and tendons of their small legs are not capable of carrying a heavy weight of body for any length of time.  He may not, as I have said before, show his blemishes in lameness, but it is only because he lacks that fine feeling common to the horse.  I have, singular as it may seem, known mules that have been spavined, curbed, and ringboned, and yet have been worked for years without exhibiting lameness.

Avoid spotted, or dapple mules; they are the very poorest animal you can get.  They cannot stand hard work, and once they get diseased and begin to lose strength, there is no saving them.  The Mexicans call them pintos, or painted mules.  We call them calico Arabians or Chickasaws.  They have generally bad eyes, which get very sore during the heat and dust of summer, when many of them go blind.  Many of the snow-white mules are of the same description, and about as useless.  Mules with the white muzzle, or, as some term it, white-nore white, and with white rings round the eyes, are also of but little account as work mules.  They can stand no hardship of any kind.  Government, at least, should never purchase them.  In purchasing mules, you must look well to the age, form, height, eyes, size of bone and muscle, and disposition; for these are of more importance than his color.  Get these right and you will have a good animal.

If any gentleman wants to purchase a mule for the saddle, let him get one bred closer after the mare than the jack.  They are more docile, handle easier, and are more tractable, and will do what you want with less trouble than the other.  If possible, also, get mare mules; they are much more safe and trusty under the saddle, and less liable to get stubborn.  They are also better than a horse mule for team purposes.  In short, if I were purchasing mules for myself, I would give at least fifteen dollars more for mare mules than I would for horse.  They are superior to the horse mule in every way.  One reason is, that they possess all their natural faculties, while you deprive the horse of his by altering.

The most disagreeable and unmanageable, and I was going to say useless, animal in the world, is a stud mule.  They are no benefit to anybody, and yet they are more troublesome than any other animal.  They rarely ever get fat, and are always fretting; and it is next to impossible to keep them from breaking loose and getting at mares.  Besides, they are exceedingly dangerous to have amongst horses.  They will frequently fly at the horse, like a tiger, and bite, tear, and kick him to pieces.  I have known them to shut their eyes, become furious, and dash over both man and beast to get at a mare.  It is curious, also, that a white mare seems to have