ITALY. 



305 



slioiild all have generally the same qualities as those demanded 

 of wheelers. Mules must be good for the pack service of 

 mountain artillery. 



Horses of any blood are procured by purchase, the chief 

 foreign races being American, French, or German; some 

 French mules are also bought. The proportion of males and 

 females should be about equal. Horses should be from 14f 

 to 16^ hands high; mules from 14:p to 15f. 



Boards of artillery officers with a veterinarian buy all the 

 horses and mules for the artillery and engineers. 



BRANDING. 



Horses and mules are branded with hot iron on the left hip. 

 The mark is a cross and the number of the regiment. 



VACCINATION. 



Rarely practiced ; against anthrax the Pasteur virus is 

 occasio lally used. 



SHOEING. 



The method known as hot-shoeing is practiced, the hot shoe 

 being apx)lied to the hoof before being quenched and set. The 

 Italian model of hand-forged shoe is used exclusively. 



FORAGE. 



The composition of the forage allowance is as follows : 



Ordinary ration 



In cantonments 



On the march 



While traveling by rail 



11.02 

 1 1 . U-A 

 11.02 

 11.02 



Compressed hay is very rarely used. 



STUDS. 



The army has at Persamo one small breeding establishment 

 intended to distribute among raisers brood mares of good 

 blood. This has been established very recently. 



However, separate from the army, seven stallion depots are 

 kept by the state for the purpose of encouraging, throughout 



