portation, even when the most
experienced packers are employed. If, however, it were necessary for the
Government to establish a system of packing, it would be a great saving
to import Mexicans, accustomed to the work, to perform the labor, and
Americans to take charge of the trains. Packing is a very laborious
business, and very few Americans either care about doing it, or have the
patience necessary to it.

CHAPTER V. PHYSICAL CONSTRUCTION OF THE MULE.

I now propose to say something on the mule's limbs and feet. It will be
observed that the mule has a jack's leg from the knee down, and in this
part of the leg he is weak; and with these he frequently has to carry a
horse's body. It stands to reason, then, that if you feed him until he
gets two or three hundred pounds of extra flesh on him, as many persons
do, he will break down for want of leg-strength. Indeed, the mule is
weakest where the horse is strongest. His feet, too, are a singular
formation, differing very materially from those of the horse. The mule's
feet grow very slow, and the grain or pores of the hoof are much closer
and harder than those of the horse. It is not so liable, however, to
break or crumble. And yet they are not so well adapted for work on
macadamized or stony roads, and the more flesh you put on his body,
after a reasonable weight, the more you add to the means of his
destruction.

Observe, for instance, a farmer's mule, or a poor man's mule working in
the city. These persons, with rare exceptions, feed their mules very
little grain, and they are generally in low flesh. And yet they last a
very long time, notwithstanding the rough treatment they get. When you
feed a mule, you must adjust the proportions of his body to the strength
of his limbs and the kind of service he is required to perform.
Experience has taught me, that the less you feed a mule below what he
will eat clean, just that amount of value and life is kept out of him.

In relation to feeding animals. Some persons boast of having horses and
mules that eat but little, and are therefore easily kept. Now, when I
want to get a horse or a mule, these small eaters are the last ones I
would think of purchasing. In nine cases out of ten, you will find such
animals out of condition. When I find animals in the Government's
possession, that cannot eat the amount necessary to sustain them and
give them proper strength, I invariably throw them out, to be nursed
until they will eat