114 The 'Book of the Goat. 



front, according to my own plan, some support is neces- 

 sary. This may be obtained by nailing a length of wood 

 obliquely, as shown in Fig. 14 at g, and fastening the 

 rack against it. The part above, where it joins the rack 

 (h), is boarded lengthwise with a couple of thin boards, 

 which extend the whole length, and serve to form, with 

 the rack, a kind of trough to hold the hay. My reason 

 for placing the rack outside the stalls instead of inside is 

 to avoid the waste of hay that takes place when the 

 rack is situated over the animals' heads, owing to portions 

 falling at their feet and being trodden on. When placed 

 outside, whatever may fall whilst pulled out drops on to 

 the board and in the pails, and is subsequently eaten, 

 being then unsoiled. 



Fastenings for Stalls. 



For fastening up the goats a staple may be driven about 

 the centre of the stall, arid izin. from the ground, but 

 what is better is an iron rod 2ft. long and not quite Jj-in. 

 in diameter, bent at right angles at each end, as shown in 

 the illustration (Fig. 15) ; the ends, being pointed or wedge- 

 shaped, are driven into the wall or partition, the lower 

 to within an inch, and the upper within 3in. of the angle 

 of the iron, thus giving the rod an oblique position. Into 

 this rod, instead of the staple, the spring-hook connected 

 with the goat's collar can be slipped, it having this advan- 

 tage over the latter, viz., that, instead of being fixed, and 

 therefore curtailing the distance when the animal stands 

 up to feed, the hook, as soon as the goat tightens its 

 chain, slides up the inclined rod and gives it the same 

 length as when lying down. Where any difficulty is 

 experienced in obtaining a bar of iron, an ordinary iron 

 curtain-rod answers the purpose very well, the trouble of 

 bending it being avoided by driving a long screw through 



