' BAKERIES, Alum Arrnies have generally ihe Means of obtaining soft or loaf bread, though not till recently, could.this be said of the British-army_ The.Frencli, ever since the time of Louis XIV., have been aecustonted to take portable ovens with their-armies, those now used will each at'once. Outside Sebastopol, in the of 1854. the British soldiers sometimes Willingly exchanged with the French 3 or 4 lbs. of biscuit for 1 lb. of soft bread. The efforts since made fa-improve the sanitary, condition of the army have included the'establishment of traveling. liakeries for fields service. Under the commissaries, the troops now rarely fail to obtain their daily rations of fresh-baked bread. We were last the greater nations to make this obvious Improvement; buy the French depend more oh bread and less on meat than the English% and this may partly account for the difference. ,. The French soldiers are taught to con struet field-ovens, and to bake their bread in camp, ivhilo government B. are established all over France, entirely conducted by soldiers. Among other leSsOns afforded by tho
siege of Sebastopol, Was one relating to-au -improved 'supply of 'Two screw-' steamers, the Bruiser and the Abundance, were sent out to Balaklava, one provided with machinery for grinding corn, and the other with machinery and ovens for making and baking bread. In each case the ship and the machinery were propelled by the same steam-engine. When quietly anchored in the harbor, the mill ground 24,000 ibs. of flour per day—better in qvality, and cheaper than could have been obtained by contract. The bakery ship Abundance had four ovens of 14 bushels' capacity each; it baked in an excellent manner 6000 loaves of 3 lbs. each per day, which loaves were sent up to the siege-army as soon as cooled. The ships and machinery were sold when the war was over—a proceeding which the commissariat officers much regretted; but the experience thence obtained will not be lost. The improved arrangements suggested for meat-rations arc noticed under ARMY.