Ammunition for field-pieces is put up in wooden boxes so painted as to indicate their contents, viz.: for shell, _black_; for shrapnel, _red_; for canister, _light drab_. The kind of ammunition is also marked on the end of the box, and the place and date of manufacture on the inside of the cover. Each box contains ten projectiles. Projectiles, except bands and fuzes, are painted as follows: =Shrapnel, with Point-charge.=--Body black; head vermilion. =Shrapnel, with Base-charge.=--Body, from band to include 3/5 of head, black; remainder of head and part of body in rear of band, vermilion. =Canister.=--Wholly black. =Shell= (Cast-iron).--Body, including ½ length of head, black; remainder of head, next to point, vermilion. The fuze-holes should be stopped with tow or cotton waste, and the projectiles should be kept under cover in a dry place. Care should be taken in handling projectiles to avoid injuring the bands. Projectiles for field-guns are now issued, charged and fuzed for service, from the arsenals. Shells of field-mortars should not be kept charged. This is done as occasion requires when firing, and the greatest care must be taken before inserting the fuze that the threads of both fuze and fuze-hole are perfectly free from dust, grit, and powder; and when assembled the fuze must be screwed tight home. =Powder.=--When made cartridges are not supplied, the powder is in wooden barrels, or in barrels of corrugated metal with bronze screw-caps, each containing 100 pounds. On the heads are stencilled the number of the barrel, the name of the manufacturer, year of fabrication, kind of powder, the mean initial velocity and pressure per square inch on the pressure-piston. Each time the powder is proved the initial velocity is marked below the former proof-marks, and the date of trial opposite it. Barrels of different kinds of powder are piled separately, and, besides being recorded in the magazine-book, each parcel is marked with a card showing the kind and the entries and issues. In the magazine the barrels are placed on their sides, generally three tiers high, or four tiers if absolutely necessary. Small skids are placed on the floor and between the several tiers, and the barrels chocked at intervals to prevent rolling. The tiers must be so arranged that the marks can readily be seen and any particular kind reached. There should be an unobstructed space of several yards square at the door, and this space, as likewise the alleys, should be covered with carpet or matting. The magazine is provided with a well near the door; into this the sweepings are put; they should never be swept out at the door. For the preservation of the magazine it is of the greatest importance to keep unobstructed the circulation of air under as well as above the flooring. The magazine should be opened and aired only in dry, clear weather, when the temperature of the air outside is lower than that inside of the magazine.