Journal of Agriculture. 



[8 Feb., 1907. 



The floor, as shown, provides a raised kerbing, dung space, and drainage 

 gutter at the rear of the cow. This is a modification of and improve- 

 ment on the upright sided rear gutter that I have advocated for years. 

 In a pamphlet prepared by me, and published by the Board of Public 

 Health in 1901, I wrote as follows: — 



" Surface drains or gutters or grips should be constructed at rear of 

 stalls. These grips should extend the whole length of the building, and 

 should be 12 inches in width. When constructed with a flat bottom and 

 upright sides (see Fig.) the removal of the dung and fluids is greatly 

 facilitated, the too'ls used being a square-faced shovel, a wooden scraper 

 or rubber "squee-jee," and a suitablv-sized whale-bone brush. Another 

 advantage of the flat-bottomed and upright-sided grip is that it prevents 

 excessive splashing nf the urine and soft dung, and, further, when the 



INTERIOR OF COW SHED. 



cow lies down, her rump, quarters, and udder lie clear of the contents of 

 the grip. Although this style of open drain or gutter or grip is seldom 

 seen in Victoria, it is almost universally adopted in byres and cow-sheds 

 in the British Isles, European countries, and New Zealand, and for the 

 reasons above stated is found to be a much cleaner, more satisfactorv, and 



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SQUARE-BOTTOMED GRIP. 



convenient drain than the "three-brick" or sloping-sided drain. The 

 objection most commonly urged against it on first impressions is that the 

 cows would be likely tO' step into it on entering the stall, or their hind 

 feet slip into it when standing in the stall, and that injury would thereby 

 result. As a matter of fact, cows more frequently slip when the sloping- 



