he sides of
the animal's mouth up into wrinkles, for the bit, working against these,
is sure to make the animal's mouth sore. The mule's mouth is a very
difficult part to heal, and once it gets sore he becomes unfit for work.
Your bridle should be fitted well to the mule's head before you attempt
to work him in it. Leave your bearing-line slack, so as to allow the
mule the privilege of learning to walk easy with harness on. It is too
frequently the case, that the eyes of mules that are worked in the
Government's service are injured by the blinds being allowed to work too
close to the eyes. This is caused by the blind-stay being too tight, or
perhaps not split far enough up between the eyes and ears. This stay
should always be split high enough up to allow the blinds to stand at
least one inch and a half from the eye.

Another, and even more essential part of the harness is the collar. More
mules are maimed and even ruined altogether by improperly fitting
collars, than is generally believed by quartermasters. It requires more
judgment to fit a collar properly on a mule than it does to fit any
other part of the harness. Get your collar long enough to buckle the
strap close up to the last hole. Then examine the bottom, and see that
there be room enough between the mule's neck or wind-pipe to lay your
open hand in easily. This will leave a space between the collar and the
mule's neck of nearly two inches. Aside from the creased neck, mules'
necks are nearly all alike in shape, They indeed vary as little in neck
as they do in feet; and what I say on the collar will apply to them all,
The teamster has always the means in his own hands of remedying a bad
fitting collar. If the animal does not work easy in it, if it pinch him
somewhere, let it remain in water over night, put it on the animal wet
the next morning, and in a few minutes it will take the exact formation
of the animal's neck. See that it is properly fitted above and below to
the hames, then the impression which the collar takes in a natural form
will be superior to the best mechanical skill of the best harness-maker.

There is another thing about collars, which, in my opinion, is very
important. When you are pursuing a journey with teams of mules, where
hay and grain are scarce, the animals will naturally become poor, and
their necks get thin and small. If once the collar becomes too large,
and you have no way of exchanging it for a smaller one, of course you
must