268 REMOUNT SYSTEMS OF FOREIGN ARMIES. 



cavalry. The draft liorses could easily be gotten, but the 

 saddle horses continue to present a serious difficulty. The 

 general horse-raising business has been on a steady decline 

 for the last. fifteen years. In 1888 the exports exceeded the 

 imports by about 25,000 head; in 1895 the imports exceeded 

 the exports by about 15,000 head and they have not since 

 decreased. 



The raising of saddle horses as distinguished from draft 

 horses has been in former years and is even now considered 

 more remunerative by breeders ; the result is that the remount 

 officers, notwithstanding the high prices allowed for saddle 

 animals, have some difficulty in finding the 15,000 annually 

 required (most of these are saddle horses). 



Premiums to Breeders of Military Horses in 

 France. — It was an endeavor to rectify this situation that 

 the French chambers in 1897 passed a law which puts in the 

 army appropriations each year an item of $234,000, which is 

 used to encourage horse raisers in the production of military 

 saddle horses. This sum enables the remount service to pay a 

 higher price than heretofore, the increase being in the nature 

 of a premium to the producers of good military animals 

 raised in France, and especially to the small farmers who can 

 not compete with great ranchers. This premium is in addi- 

 tion to the average price allowed for each class of animal. 



As a safeguard thrown around this increased expenditure 

 for horses, the ministry of war has given strict orders that 

 the purchasing boards shall demand from the horse raisers 

 certificates showing ages and pedigrees of the animals they 

 sell. Prospective sellers must send to the remount stations 

 at least ten days before the purchasing boards start out 

 descriptions of the animals they propose to present, stating 

 pedigree, etc. This arrangement also serves to prevent the 

 presentation of foreign-bred — especially American — horses by 

 French breeders along with those of their own raising. The 

 object of the premium is to encourage French breeders, so 

 that premiums are not paid on any foreign-bred horse, what- 

 ever his quality. 



The average price paid previous to 1897 for a y6ung, serv- 

 iceable, cavalry horse, either for the heavy cavalry or the 

 light, was about $204.75. It is contended by the horse raisers 

 that this price is insufficient, even for a horse 3^ years old. 

 They contend that a mare is worth $156, and that, allowing 



