June 14.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2411

APPENDIX 19
(Referred to in para. 244).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CARE AND PRESERVATION OF THE LEATHER OF HARNESS AND SADDLERY (OTHER THAN THAT HELD FOR MOBILIZATION) IN POSSESSION OF TROOPS.

1. ONCE in every six months the saddlery and harness in possession of the troops is to be laid by in dubbing for two or three days.

2. The whole of the strapping composing the saddlery and harness will be taken to pieces; and after the articles have been cleaned, and while they are damp from the use of a wet sponge, the dubbing will be lightly rubbed in. It may be applied with a rag, sponge, or brush. Dubbing spreads more uniformly, and is incorporated more thoroughly with the fibres of the leather, if applied when the leather is damp. In the winter months the dubbing should be warmed.

3. When the dubbing has had time to penetrate the leather, which will be in two or three days, the residue of tallow on the surface should be rubbed off and the article polished up with a cloth or brush. If this is properly done, and only a sufficiency of dubbing has been used, the leather will not soil the hand or glove when handled.

4. Rifle-buckets, and seats and flaps of saddles, being of uncurried leather and requiring to be kept stiff, should only be very lightly dubbed annually, but occasionally soap sponging is necessary to preserve the grain.

5. Soap should be used daily where articles are in constant use to produce mellowness in the leather rather than an outward gloss. Inspecting officers should handle the straps to ascertain that they are pliable and in good preservation.

6. So long as leather remains dry and clean it needs but little attention beyond receiving a little grease half-yearly; but when wetted, either by rain or by the water necessary to clean it, the leather becomes hard and stiff if not softened by some oily matter.

7. Leather must not be washed with soda nor soaked in water. Its vitality is quite destroyed by being soaked in hot water, and it will be found afterwards to readily crack when bent. Washing the leather with soap and lukewarm water, quickly and without soaking, will not injure it if the precaution is taken to apply oil, dubbing, or good soap while the article is slightly damp.

8. Drying the leather by the fire destroys its durable properties, and is strictly forbidden.

9. Leather articles exposed to the action of ammonia, which is continually given off in stables, becomes weak and rotten sooner than those not so exposed; but the grease of oil, soap, or dubbing applied from time to time penetrates the leather, nourishes it, and fits it to resist the deleterious effects of ammonia and of atmospheric moisture; it also fills up the fibres, makes the leather more mellow, and increases its tensile strength.

10. Soft-soap contains an excess of alkali, and should be sparingly used; if applied freely it gives the leather a dark and sodden appearance.

11. Beeswax and saddle-soaps, commonly used in the service to give a polish to the grain of the leather, are not objectionable, providing good yellow soap is used on the flesh (under) side to keep the leather mellow.

12. Black saddlery leather requires greater care than brown. To give it a good appearance the best blacking only should be used.

13. The harness and saddlery of sick and young horses, when kept in store, should be properly cleaned and soaped, or dubbed, before being stored. The officer immediately responsible should inspect them monthly.

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APPENDIX 20
(Referred to in para. 253).

SCHEDULE OF EQUIPMENT OF N.Z.V.C.—VETERINARY HOSPITAL.