33G AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



may Ix' luinod off rapidly, and that the snow may melt very soon, without the 

 possibility of large accumulations. 



THE STABLE 



diould be arranged to be above ground, to be well ventilated, and to have 

 abundant light; in short, to be cool in summer and warm in winter. He can 

 never be a successful farmer who docs not shelter his cattle eflectually and 

 wt.'Il in all seasons from the inclemencies of the weather. It is not only a hu- 

 manity, but a great pccuniaiy saving on every farm where there is a single 

 living animal. Some build stables low for warmth, but the advantage is more 

 than lost by the vitiation of the atmosphere. A warm bad air is worse than 

 the cooler and still atmosphere of a stable. The ceiling of a stable should be 

 at least ten feet high, with an apcrtnre for the escape of foul air; the walls 

 or partitions should be close, and arranged to have abundant light admitted 

 through glass windows. In summer the sash may be removed. 



The American Agriculturist for December, 1863, gives a description of a 

 stable for draught and farm horses which contains the most important points 

 on this subject, though, perhaps, not practicable for farms generally: 



"Tlie stable should not be less tb&n eigbteeu feet wide, and of such length as will allow 

 six feet standing for each horse. It should be ten feet high. The horses stand in a single 

 row, and the liarness is hung on pegs in the wall behind them. Tliis width admits ot" 

 thorough ventilation to the stable without subjecting the liorses to draiights. Each standing 

 should be parted off by an upright post reaching from the ground to the ceiling rafter, placed 

 three ic-et from the wall at the horse's head. The partitions should be closely boarded ujj 

 three I'eet above the manger and hay-crib to prevent the horses quarrelling about the food and 

 biting each other. To each of the posts a bale, eight feet long and twenty inches wide, 

 should be hung by a strong chain to divide the standings and suspended by another strong 

 chain at the hinder end from the ceiling rafter. Each chain should have a hook and eye 

 within roach that may be readily unfastened. This aiTangement will leave a space of six 

 feet opposite the head of each horse available for feeding purposes. The manger for corn and 

 chaff (cut feed) may be two and a half feet long. It should be two feet wide at the top, one 

 foot t\vo inches at the bottom. The hay and straw, whicli should be cut into six-inch lengths, 

 will require a larger receptacle, which should be three feet six inches long, two feet wide at 

 its upper part and half that width below. It should be so constructed that while it is even 

 with the manger above, it should reach to the ground, two feet above which should be fixed 

 to the wall a bottom, sloping to one toot above the ground in front, where some upright open- 

 ings should be cut to allow the escape of seeds and dirt. At the top of this hay and straw 

 crib, an iron rack with bars six inches apart, should be so hung as to open up and fall back 

 against the wall to let the fodder be put in, and then be put down upon it for the horse to eat 

 through. It should be so much smaller than the opening that it can fall down with the fod- 

 der as it is consumed, by which means not a particle is wasted. The manger may be con- 

 structed of yellow deal one and a half inches thick for the front, back, and ends ; the bottom, 

 of slate, three-quarters of an inch thick. The top of the front and ends should be covered 

 with half round iron, two and a half inches wide, screwed on to project over the front, a 

 quarter of an inch outside and three-quarters of an inch inside the manger. This prevents 

 the food being tossed out and the manger being gnawed. A short post nuist be put up as 

 near the centre of the standing as possible to support the manger, into which a laige screw 

 ring must be put to let the chain or rope of the headstall pass freely up and down without 

 constant friction. The manger may be three and a half feet from ground to top ; the hay- 

 crib of course the same height. The paving of the standings to three and a half feet from 

 the head, should be flat, then with a fall from both sides to the centre, Avhere an angle iron 

 drain of four inches wide from end to end, with a removable flat iron cover fitted to the 

 inside of it, should be placed straight down the standing, with a fall into another larger cross 

 main drain ten feet six inches from the head, so placed as to carry away the urine from all 

 the smaller drains into a tank outside the stable. This main drain so placed, takes the iu"ine 

 from the mares, and has a loose co\cr also fitted to it, easily removed for sweeping out when 

 necessary, perhaps once a week. This system keeps the stable healthy, economizes the 

 urine and the straw also, the latter very important where it can be sold, or consumed as food. 

 The width of eighteen feet for the stable gives room for narrow corn bins three feet high, so 

 that each carter may have his horse's corn separate." 



In the above, paving has been alluded to for standings, but a hard, dry dirt 

 floor is greatly better than stone or plank. A nice, smooth, hard, and dry floor 

 may be secured with small stones packed like a McAdamized road, the inter- 



