do the next best thing you can. Now, first take the collar off the
animal, lay it on a level, and cut about one inch out of the centre.
When you have done this, try it on the animal again; and if it still
continues too large take a little more from each side of the centre
until you get it right. In this way you can effect the remedy you need.

In performing a long journey, the animals will, if driven hard, soon
show you where the collar ought to be cut, They generally get sore on
the outer part of the shoulder, and this on account of the muscle
wasting away. Teamsters on the plains and in the Western Territories cut
all the collars when starting on a trip. It takes less time afterward to
fit them to the teams, and to harness and unharness.

When you find out where the collar has injured the shoulder, cut it and
take out enough of the stuffing to prevent the leather from touching the
sore. In this way the animal will soon get sound-shouldered again. Let
the part of the leather you cut hang loose, so that when you take the
stuffing out you may put it back and prevent any more than is actually
necessary from coming out.

See that your hames fit well, for they are a matter of great importance
in a mule's drawing. Unless your hames fit your collar well, you are
sure to have trouble with your harness, and your mule will work badly.
Some persons think, because a mule can be accustomed to work with almost
any thing for a harness, that money is saved in letting him do it. This
is a great mistake. You serve the best economy when you harness him well
and make his working comfortable. Indeed, a mule can do more work with a
bad-fitting collar and harness than a man can walk with a bad-fitting
boot. Try your hames on, and draw them tight enough at the top of the
mule's neck, so that they will not work or roll round. They should be
tight enough to fit well without pinching the neck or shoulder, and in
fine, fit as neatly as a man's shirt-collar.

Do not get the bulge part of your collar down too low. If you do, you
interfere with the machinery that propels the mule's fore legs. Again,
if you raise it too high, you at once interfere with his wind. There is
an exact place for the bulge of the collar, and it is on the point of
the mule's shoulder. Some persons use a pad made of sheepskin on the toe
of the collar. Take it off, for it does no good, and get a piece of
thick leather, free from wrinkles, ten or twelve inches long and seven