REPORT ON THE TRANSIT OF STOCK 481 



vations ; yet it is a fact patent to all who have observed the con- 

 sequences of the present system, that these evils do attend all 

 transit by rail more or less, and especially when the journey 

 exceeds twenty-four hours. If any one be in doubt, let him take 

 an animal and keep him in a house for one, two, or three clays 

 without food or water, and observe the effects there ; and if to 

 these be added the exposure of a railway truck in all kinds of 

 weather, we believe the result will prove irresistibly that food 

 and water are absolute necessaries in railway transit. The 

 truck presently used has no accommodation for the supply of 

 these ; and it seems practically impossible to take the animals 

 out of them, from time to time, to feed and water them. The 

 •only thing, therefore, that can be attempted, is to fit up the trucks 

 in some way for this purpose, and the following is submitted as 

 feasible, viz., that the trucks be made one foot three inches higher 

 (admissible), and that a rack, made of iron rods, be run along each 

 side of the truck ; the roof over it being made in the form of a door, 

 to open, when required, for filling it. This would not interfere 

 with the accommodation of the cattle at all, and would at once 

 provide for the supply of hay to them as often as required, while 

 it would be so simple and inexpensive that it could hardly be 

 objected to, either on the score of cost or difficulty of construction. 

 P>ut, supposing the rack fixed, some arrangement must be made 

 for its regular supply. This might be done in the following way : — 

 Let the railway companies provide a supply of hay at all their 

 large stations, and make it compulsory to supply the animals, at 

 least once within every six or seven hours, with a certain weight of 

 hay per beast, and for which they are to be allowed a fair charge. 

 Let this department be put under a responsible official, who will 

 •order a supply when necessary, see it given, and grant a receipt 

 which would accompany the stock, showing what the animals 

 had got, and when, and for which the owner would pay at their 

 journey's end. 



We have no doubt that railway companies would find con- 

 tuactors ready to undertake such a department as this, as readily 

 as they find them to undertake their refreshment rooms. In 

 regard to the supply of water, the difficulty is great. It is hardly 

 possible to supply it satisfactorily inside the trucks, from the 

 inconvenience the necessary troughs would cause, and from the 

 difficulty of filling them, and therefore the following method of 

 supplying the animals with water from the outside is submitted. 

 Let the upper half of the sides of the truck be made in the form 

 •of doors, to open outwards. These being opened, there would be 

 nothing to prevent the cattle stretching their heads out and 

 drinking from a trough alongside. The trough for this purpose 

 would be raised to a suitable height on a wall or pillars, and 

 placed on both sides of a siding for the purpose, and of a length 



