CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



effectually secured by the use of Forbes's drain- 

 pavement, in which the flooring-bricks are grooved 

 so as to form a system of channels for the urine. 



The inside of the stalls should be boarded, and 

 a lining of wood, four or five feet in depth, should 

 be carried round the bottom of the other walls ; 

 all above should be plastered and white-washed. 



The evils of defective ventilation to animal life 

 in general (see PRESERVATION OF HEALTH, also 

 WARMING VENTILATION LIGHTING) are ag- 

 gravated in the case of horses by the quantity of 

 ammonia developed from the urine. This is less 

 the case in stables where the floors are kept dry 

 and sweet by the means above described ; still, in 

 every stable, means must be provided for the con- 

 stant removal of tainted air, and the supply of 

 fresh. The principles laid down in the number 

 just referred to will be found applicable here. 



A stable should never be large, as it is then 

 liable to great fluctuations of temperature, accord- 

 ing to the varying numbers in it at one time. A 

 good size is one with ample room for six or eight 

 horses. A stable with a row of stalls on one side 

 only is better than one with double rows ; if double, 

 the space between should not be less than eight or 

 ten feet Sixteen feet is a proper width for a stable 



Ground-plan. 



with a single row, ten feet being allowed for the 

 depth of the stalls. Each stall is usually five and 

 a half feet wide, but when space will permit, a 

 width of six feet is advisable. 



We give a ground-plan and elevation of what is 

 considered by good judges a model stable, erected 

 by Mr Murray Anderson at Tollington Park, near 

 London. It is planned to accommodate three 



Elevation. 



horses, and contains coach-house and stable-yard 

 under the same roof: #, Ib are two loose boxes, 



having each a rack for hay, r, a corn-box, c, and a 

 water-trough, -w; s is a stall five feet six by nine 

 feet ; cf is a corn-bin, and d, one for beans ; h is a 

 hay-shed ; h', the harness-room ; /, the covered 

 yard for cleaning carriages, &c. ; p, the dung-pit, 

 which is an air-tight tank, with a ventilating tube 

 rising above the roof. The dung is thrown down 

 by a trap-door inside, and removed by another out- 

 side. The building is lighted from the roof, which 

 also contains three ventilators for the escape of 

 the air. Fresh air is admitted by gratings at the 

 bottom of the pillars represented in elevation ; 

 these being hollow, the air ascends, and enters the 

 stable by similar gratings at the top inside. The 

 whole structure, walls and floor, rests on concrete. 

 We have now to consider the fittings ; and first 

 as to windows. When we say that the stable 

 should be well lighted, we certainly oppose one of 

 the most vulgar prejudices respecting horse- 

 management. In most instances, stables are kept 

 as dark as dungeons, greatly to the injury and dis- 

 comfort of the inmates. It is impossible to under- 

 stand what can be rationally designed by keeping 

 horses standing in the dark during their waking- 

 hours. Nature never intended anything of the 

 kind, and the practice should be abolished. The 

 best way of lighting is from the roof, 

 m^HBi the windows being capable of being 

 easily opened from below by means of 

 cords and pulleys ; which arrangement 

 furnishes at the same time a means of 

 ventilation. When lighted from the side- 

 walls, Mr Stephens recommends the 

 lower part of the window to be dead, 

 the upper part only glazed, and capable 

 of being opened. The stable should be 

 entered by one door only, placed at the 

 end of the building ; it should be eight 

 and a half feet high, and not less than 

 five wide. It is advisable to have a 

 spring by which it can be kept open 

 until the horse is clear ; when this is 

 released, the door should be so hung as 

 to close itself. 



Hay-loft Racks Mangers. 



The hay-loft, or place of deposit for hay, ought 

 not, as is usually the case, to be over the stable, 

 but adjacent ; and a chamber level with the floor 

 of the stable, and behind the stalls, is preferable, 

 the hay being passed into the racks through doors 

 opening from this chamber. In cases where hay- 

 lofts are used, let them be kept as clean as pos- 

 sible, and allow no opening to the racks. 



Hay-racks of the best material and form are 

 made of iron, the bars rounded, and two inches 

 from each other. The rack need not traverse the 

 whole breadth of the stall, because in such a plan 

 rubbish collects in the corners. A size to hold 

 from a half to a whole stone of hay will be suffi- 

 cient in most instances. A convenient form is 

 that of a convex or bulged grating from the wall, 

 placed a little above the head of the horse. A 

 rack of this or any other shape cannot be kept too 

 clean ; the bars should be daily rubbed, and all 

 refuse of hay removed. In improved racks, a 

 drawer is provided, into which the seeds drop. A 

 very ingenious and economical form has recently 

 been introduced. It consists of a square iron 

 casing, placed in the corner of the stall, the upper 



