Page 29 - PERSIAN 2 1879_1883

I

.RESIDENCY AND MUSKAT POLITICAL AGENCY FOR 1879-80.
17
Rearing and cadralion.—The young mule is allowed to grow up
under its mother and.to graze with the herd until three vcarsof age,
when it is taken away for sale or to be trained to work. ° '
At the age of two years all the males are castrated, the method
adopted being to make an incision in the scrotum and tie a string tightly
roui
- id the spennadic cord, when the mule is set free, and in a day or two
the testicle falls off.
Training.—When three years old the mule is broken in to work.
For the first two journeys no weight is put ou bis back, and he simply
follows in the caravan. Ou the third journey a load of 80 lbs. is put on
him, and this is gradually increased until he can carry 320 lbs., which is
the limit of an ordinary load. Some muleteers make the young mules
carry small loads after a few days* training. They biucl up their eyes
with a cloth, and then place on their back a sack containing £0 lbs. of1 so
of sand and walk them about for a short time. They repeat this process
for -three or four days, gradually increasing the quantity of sand, and on
the fifth day the young mules are ready to carry a regular load. A
small load of about ICO lbs. is then put on them, and this is increased
.until they can carry the full load of 320 lbs. The mule is fully trained
in a year1# time, and at four years old is fit for service.
Feeding.—-As long as the young mule is at large no grain is given,
but when at three years of age he is made to follow the caravan, 4 2>s. of
barley per diem is given him, and this is increased to 6 lbs. when he is
lightly loaded, and afterwards to 8 lbs., which is the full allowance for a
trained mule. Straw (barley or w'beat) is given as much as the mule
eaii eat. A full grown mule eats about 20 lbs. of straw per diem. This
complement, viz., 8 lbs. of barley and 20 lbs. of straw, is given to every
full grown mule whether on the march or at the halt. It is said that if
less be given 'to them, even when unladen and at a halt they will suffer
when next taken out for work.
At the bait mules are fed twice a day, morning and evening, straw
being supplied between times. On the march mules are fed in the hot
weather at about 4 o'clock p.m., and shortly after they Gnish their march
at about 4 or 5 o'clock a.m. In the cold weather they are fed at about
6 o’clock p.m. and about 2 o'clock a.m. before.they march. The evening
feed in every case consists of 6 lbs. of barley mixed with^straw, and the
morning feed of 2 lbs. barley mixed with straw. Straw is given during
the day.
During the two or three months when the grass is green, .no grain
is given to the mules. About Shuster and in Koordistan the mules are
then turned loose to graze and do no work; further east and on the
.Bushire-Isfahan road the mules continue to work, but .only do half
inarches, and * at the end of the march are turned out to graze. Far
instance, the caravans generally march from Busbire to Shiraz in from
eight to twelve days, but in the grazing season they take about thirty
days to perform the same distance.
Watering.—Mules are watered three times a day in the hot weather
and .twice in the cold. The tiroes of watering on the march are—intbe
cold weather, about half an hour after the evening and morning feeds;