The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-01-09
Virginia May Get Station
Equal to Any in
World.
RE M M ENDATION MADE
Under Present System 1t Is In
possible to Secure Good
Animals.
Especial TO Tic Times.nisn, oh

4
OF the largest horse breeding stations
| In tho world--unc that Will compnro
iaVorably with those OF any other ma
ton. and ono that Will permit of The
yer! best horses being bred for urmy
| rurposcs. That the government IN
| badly In need of such station is Tho
opinion not only OF Secretary OF War
! Dickinson and Secretary Wilson. OF tho
! Department of Agriculture. hut OF VOL
| known public men who have been con
siderlns the matter for some time
In making his annual report, a. ID
| Melvin, chief OF the Bureau OF Animal
| Industry OF the Department OF AgrIcul-
| turc. says
Although horses are commanding
| highcr prices than have been known for
many years. there is evidently n great
shortage In their production. The
J United States Army has for some years
| found IL difficult to maintain an adc-
1uatc supply OF suitable horses ana
1t seems that II the efficiency OF tho
| cavalry is TO be maittaincd IL will be-
necessary FOR the government to take
up some systematic plan TO oncoura &c
| the breeding of horses Of II type suit
able for army use
During the past year tho SECRETARY
OF War requested the cooperation Of
! tho Secretary OF Agriculture in cyolv-
ing some plan Tor enabling the army To
| obtain suitable horses. The Secretary
! OF War pointed out that the suppiy OF
| horses tit for remotints is becoming
| more and more limited ana TINT the
| present indications arc that the country
would find It impossible 10 mount it's
army from it's own resources I'm Tine of
| war. and Is rapidly reaching Il point
! where the needed supply or suitable
| remounts for the present strength of
the army would be extremely hard 10
! obtain, II obtainablc Ut NIL AZ n re-
| suit Of tlig hp ~ mr. al Il
| q representative to join with n reprc-
| sentative Of the War Department, in
| considering the subject and formulat-
Ing a plan. The Department OF Agri-
| culture was represented By George NJ.
! Rommel. chief of the Animal Husband
| ~ Division OF this bureau, and the War
Department by Captain Casper H. Con.
rad. Jr Third Cavalry, United States
| Army. detailed for duty In the Quar-
| termaster-Gcncral's Department in con
| nectlon with the purchase OF rcmoun,s
I These mon have outlined "A plan for
breeding horses for army use which
| plan is presented In the portion OF this
report dealing with The work OF the
! Animal IiusbanIry Division. To carry
, on, this plan would require nppropria-
! lions for the use OF this department
estimated a. s:5o.o0o for the ars, year
| and 100000 year thereafter.
! Tie establishment In 1905 Of the re,
mount depots has further improved tho
! type of horse for the army. ms the sys-
tenn OF purchasing young horses thrca
and four years old. often unbrokcn
has enabled tho government 10 get tho
| best type OF horse before il has cost
/ the breeder much money and when II,
/, could be sold for reasonable amount
| These horses, sent TO the dcpots for
maturity and handling. and finally is
sued TO troops as four and half and
ave ycar-olds. while costing the gov
eminent more per head than horses
five and six years old. formerly pur-
chased and issued directly TO the troops
arc very mich better horses from the
beginning, are properly developed nj
II critical period in their existence. ra-
tionally handled, and. when issuc9 10
troops. have been received with onthu-
siasm az great Improvement over tho
maturcd horses formerly issued under
the old system.
l:vcn considering the high market
value OF horses nj present, IL IL believed
that. under the rcmount system. horses
can be issued IL troops at not 10 OK
coed = total average cost OF SECS Tho
latest contract price for cavalry horses
Is slS3.75; for artillery horses. s213.T6.
Many OF tho late contract horses are
young and require some handling al
dcpots before oeing suita bic for SER
vice; others arc mature.
Horses purchased as mature undcr
the old sy3tcm have had n useful life
in the army OF 64 years on AN average.
The better grade of horses. such as arc
now being purchased. rationally dovci-
oped and handled. should and will have
u useful average life Of ten wears. II
is easy 10 see that the better horse.
issued from the depot a, a cost Of
S2e5. that lasts ten years, is cheaper
than the horse costing slS3 to s2i3,
lasting only Ga years. In addition.
tho army will nave had better horse
throughout the entire period of use
fulness. Tho horses being issued from
the depot could undoubtedly no sold ut
n time of issue al a handsome profit.
Many individuals would bring fancy
prices II is needless TO say that If II
were possible TO purchase them in issue
form II would be necessary to pay
much more than they have cost under
tho depot system
European countries long ago found
II not only advisable, but necessary, ~
supervise the breeding of horses in
order to supply the dcmn nds OF their
armies, and every I;urorcan country Of
Importance. with the exception OF Eng
land. has for years been encouraging
tho breeding of the proper type Of
army remount. England. one of the
most important horse countries of The
world has for many reasons only re-
Gently been forced To this step. 1t is
interesting to note that practically the
same conditions confront England that
confront this country at the present
time, and that almost the identical
steps arc contemplated in the two An
glo-SaXon countries to accomplish the
same result-sutable army horses in
sufficient number. p. n. MEG.