This is the severest use to which a lariat can be put on mule or horse.  The person using it, however, should be careful to see that it sets well back to the shoulder of the animal.  I refer now to the part of the loop that is around the neck.  The end of the lariat should always be held by a man, and not made fast to any part of the wagon, so that if the animal falls or throws himself, you can slack up the lariat and save him from injury.  Three applications of the buck will conquer them so thoroughly that you will have little trouble afterwards.  Be careful to keep the lariat, in front, as high as the mule’s breast; and see also that they are pulled up close to the front wheel before pulling it through the hind wheel.

DISEASES COMMON TO THE MULE, AND HOW THEY SHOULD BE TREATED.

The mule does not differ materially from the horse in the diseases he is afflicted with.  He however suffers less from them, owing to lack of sensibility.  It may be useful here to make a few remarks on the various diseases he is subject to, and to recommend a course of treatment which I have practiced and seen practiced, and which I believe is the best that can be applied.

Distemper in colts.

This disease is peculiar to young mules.  Its symptoms develop with soreness and swelling of the glands of the throat, a cough, difficulty of swallowing, discharging at the nostrils, and general prostration.  If not properly treated it is surely fatal.

Treatment:—­Give light bran mashes, plenty of common salt, and keep the animal in a warm and dry stable.  You need not clothe, for the mule, unlike the horse, is not used to clothing.  If the swelling under the throat shows a disposition to ulcerate, which it generally does, do nothing to prevent it.  Encourage the ulcer, and let it come to a head gradually, for this is the easiest and most natural way that the trouble, which at first seems to pervade the whole system, can be got rid of.  When the ulcer appears soft enough to lance, do so, and be careful to avoid the glands and veins.  Lance through the skin in the soft spot, which appears almost ready to break.  If the throat is at any time so swollen as to render swallowing difficult, give water frequently, about milk warm, with nourishing feed of oats, corn, or rye meal—­the last is the best.  If this treatment, which is very simple, be carefully carried out, few animals will fail to recover.

Catarrh or colds.

This disease seldom attacks the mule.  We have had many thousands of them in camp, and out of the whole number, I do not recollect of a case where it either destroyed or disabled a single animal.  In fact, it is a question with me whether mules will take cold when kept as the Government keeps them—­camped out, or standing in sheds where the temperature is the same as outdoors.

Glanders.