No. C. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 397 



work ill dark corners aud has found every conceivable condilioti he 

 could wish for in the construction of the ceiling, with the boards or 

 rails placed apart so as to permit the hay and straw to offer a frame- 

 work upon which we find the handiwork of the most accomplislied 

 spider of this progressive age in competition with that of his grand- 

 parents of many generation®, long gone to rest, all dust ladened. 

 Now the best remedy here is a ceiling of jointed boards nailed on 

 the under side of the joists, but the story is usually so low that it is 

 often desirable to construct a tight floor above the joists, so as not to 

 lessen the already limited air space in stables. This can be done with 

 cheap boards of irregular width and edges, if necessar}^ by covering 

 the crevices with strips or slabs so as to prevent the dropping through 

 of dust and dirt, and to present a surface below that is easily white- 

 washed. This can be very cheaply and rapidly done with an or- 

 dinary spray pump and will add greatly to the light. The side walls 

 should be made reasonably smooth by dashing with mortar, so that 

 it. too, can be readily whitewashed. 



The floors should be so constructed as to provide good and suffi- 

 cient drainage and to preclude the possibility of liquid manure soak- 

 ing into its surface. The material of which it is made may depend 

 somewhat upon the kind of material most available. The first and 

 most important feature in a stable floor is a trough to catch and carry 

 off the droppings, and this should be made of either plank or cement, 

 preferably the latter, with sufficient fall to secure good drainage in 

 case it should become necessary to flush them with water. TTie 

 efficiency of such a trough depends much upon its shape and depth. 

 It should be wide at the top and the stable floor should fall gently 

 towards it; the elevation of side of gutter next to cow^s hind feet 

 should be about eight inches and should slant about two inches to- 

 wards the cow; the bottom should be fourteen inches wide and the 

 back rise should be only four inches and should slant back away 

 from cow one inch, so if the bottom is fourteen inches wide the top 

 of gutter is seventeen inches, which is amply wide. This makes a 

 durable gutter of convenient shape, easily kept clean, will permit 

 the direct rays of the sun to strike nearly all of the bottom of it and 

 will catch all of the droppings if the animal is properly tied. If this 

 gutter be made of plank, it should be constructed according to this 

 plan shown on the chart, with the floor plank overlapping the edges 

 of trough, etc., but cement is very much better, it is more sanitary 

 and durable and little, if any more expensive. The fall from end to 

 end of trough is of minor importance, as all liquids should be re- 

 moved by absorbents and not by drainage; the fall is only needful 

 when it becomes necessary to flush the gutter with water. The floor 

 upon which the animal stands and lies may be of such durable ma- 

 terial as most available. Good brick clav makes a good floor — cin- 



