“The first attempt at improvement was made in Hokaido, where we introduced the American trotter and French horses from Anam, as well as a few Hungarians. The American and French horses proved failures. The breeding of horses for the army is under the control of the Agricultural Department--a great mistake, in my opinion, for that Department is apt to judge a horse by a standard other than the military. The Imperial Household Department has two stud farms--one in Shimosa and the other in Sendai. The Agricultural Department also has two stud farms in Kyushu and Osher, and has introduced the English hackney, the English thoroughbred, and the Anglo-Arab--a breed of pure Arab improved in England. These horses are distributed among the stud farms with mares from the several localities. To prevent deterioration of the stock, regulations have been made as to gelding, but owing to the outbreak of war these regulations have not been rigorously enforced, nor has proper care been taken in the selection of brood mares. “The organisation for the supply of military horses is simple. There is a central depôt, with branches in Nokaido, Sanbogi, Rokurhara, Kaijiyasawa, Shirakawa, Taisen and Takahara. At these branch depôts the horses are trained and prepared for service. There is, of course, some difference of opinion as to the best horses for improving our stock, but the judgment of the majority is in favour of the English hackney, the English thoroughbred and the Anglo-Arab for cavalry, and the Anglo-Norman for artillery. “Our horses remain in the ranks for eight years. Their feed is ten pounds of barley and five pounds of grass, or failing grass, three extra pounds of barley. In camp they are fed three times a day and on the march twice a day. The diseases from which they suffer are anthrax, pneumonia, and indigestion. In one division fifteen horses died from eating poisonous grass, and two hundred from indigestion, due no doubt to the hard barley diet. I forgot to say that it is estimated that in Japan--which as you know is a mountainous country cut up into paddy fields and therefore not adapted to horse exercise--there are 1,280,000 horses, of which, perhaps 300,000 are stallions, and that the yearly product is about 100,000.” “My deliberate opinion,” added the Japanese colonel, “is that comparing one squadron with another the Japanese cavalry will not be found inferior to the Russian. Hitherto we have had no opportunity of testing our capacity in actual conflict. Here among these mountains we can fulfil none of the duties assigned to cavalry except those of reconnaissance and of guarding the flanks. When the army was concentrating at Anju, we acted as a screen through which the enemy could not penetrate to discover our force. Again at Wiju we covered the army from Yongampho to many miles East, so that the Russians were never sure of the point of attack. At Chonju the Russians had a big force of cavalry, yet they did not even attempt to reconnoitre.”