222 THE HORSE 



reaching it through the same openings. On these accounts a great out- 

 cry was raised against placing the loft in this situation ; and stable- 

 architects insisted upon a hay chamber, as it was called, being built on the 

 oTound-floor, or at all events in some other situation than that usually 

 allotted to it. There was great sense in this precaution, and for a 

 time credit was due to the promoters of the improvement; but on the 

 subsequent introduction of low racks (ivhich the grooms did not object to 

 xvhen they had to bring their hay in through the stable door), and the 

 simultaneous dismissal of the openings over them to the loft, the objections 

 to the old situation of the latter were done away with ; and the objec- 

 tions of the grooms having been removed, no opposition could be offered 

 by them, and thus it has come to pass that in all our best stables 

 racks are established without openings over them, and the hay and straw 

 stowed in a loft overhead, perfectly protected from injury from the stable 

 emanations, by means of a sound floor and a good ceiling beneath it. The 

 fodder so placed does good instead of harm, inasmuch as being a bad 

 conductor of heat it tends to keep the stable cool in summer and warm 

 in winter. Arrangements are easily made for throwing it down through 

 a shaft in some convenient spot clear of the horses ; and as it can more 

 readily be filled from the cart or wagon through the window than a 

 chamber on the ground, labour is economized also. 



The fodder is sometimes thrown down from the loft into the yard, and 

 then carried into the stable, but whenever possible it is much better to have 

 a close-boarded shaft, with a close-fitting door at the bottom, down which 

 it may be thrown without making dust or startling the horses. This shaft 

 should be large enough to allow a truss of hay or straw to fall down 

 without jamming ; the size of the former varies in different parts of the 

 country, but commonly 2 ft. 9 in. wide by 2 ft. 3 in. from back to front 

 will do. Chaff may be conveyed in a similar shaft, but made preferably of 

 iron about 10 in. square, and corn is best taken down in a similar but 

 smaller iron shoot, about 4 in. by 5 in. At the bottom of the corn-shoot 

 there should be two slides or doors, the space separating them being such 

 as to hold one feed. It is a further convenience to have the two slides con- 

 nected with a lever handle, so that when one slide is out the other is in, 

 and waste is thus prevented. Some crotchety or suspicious people add a 

 lock to the lever. 



The granary, however, will require several fittings ; and, in the first 

 place, it should be so constructed as to be mice-proof. If the walls are 

 soundly built, no mice can gnaw through them, but even if they are of soft 

 materials, a lining of Portland cement will exclude mice altogether. 

 Tliis article also keeps the corn dry, and forms an excellent floor, as well as 

 a lining for the walls. If the granary is on the ground, instead of using 

 boards, which harbour vermin of all kinds, lay a course of bricks edgeways 

 upon concrete, and then upon the former have an inch of Portland cement 

 carefully laid, and take care to allow time for it to harden. When this is 

 done, corn may be stored without fear of loss by mice, and all that is 

 necessaiy is to turn it over every fortnight if at all new, or once a month 

 if dry. Few grooms are to be trusted with an unlimited supply of oats, as 

 they will almost all waste them in some way or other. It is better there- 

 foi'e to shut off a part of the granary with open lattice or wire-work, 



