t seem justifiable, but it is not the best policy in
conducting the competitions of the Fat Stock Show to be influenced by
any considerations except those which relate to fair, impartial and
intelligent decisions, and no decisions can be fair, impartial and
intelligent which conflict with each other and which, as a whole, fail
to form a consistent record.

JOHN P. REYNOLDS,
Supt. Class A.

* * * * *

James F. Scott purchased 200 mares and 500 one and two year old colts to
be delivered on the 15th of March at the San Antonio Viego ranch.

* * * * *

RAISING YOUNG MULES.

Where land is not too high, and pasturage good as well as cheap, keeping
good mares from which young mules can be raised is certainly a
profitable business; especially so where corn and hay are grown on the
farm, and the mares can be profitably worked at least part of the year.

With a liberal supply of corn fodder for winter feeding, and a good
pasture, with hay and corn during the coldest weather, and when at work,
this branch of farming is not only easy, but certain and profitable. A
mare in good condition, not counting pasturage, can be kept for eight
dollars a year. Service of jack here is generally six dollars, making
keeping of mare and service cost fourteen. There has been no time since
I came to this part of the State when a mule colt would not bring all
the way from twenty-five to fifty dollars, depending, of course, upon
the size, form, and general condition at weaning time. Allowing nothing
for the work the mare would be able to do, which certainly ought to be
sufficient to pay for her keep, there is left a good margin for profit.
Or if we count the interest on the money invested in the mare, still we
have a good profit left. The difference paid for young mules shows two
facts: first, the importance of a good sire, or jack, and the other of a
well-formed mare. It certainly costs no more money to keep a well-formed
animal than it does to keep a poor one. Of course, at the start, one may
require a somewhat larger outlay of money, and in this way, if we count
the interest on the money invested, cause young mules to cost a trifle
more than if cheaper animals were used. But this is more than
compensated for by the larger price the colt will bring.

The difference between a mare that will bring a mule that only sells for
the lowest price here at weaning time, twenty-