38 STABLE ECONOMY. 



useful for a variety of purposes. The floors of the lofts ovei 

 the stables are made so close, either by double layers of boards 

 or a single layer grooved and tongued, as to prevent the seed 

 and dust falling on to the horses below. We think this ar- 

 rangement better than any we saw in England. In cities, 

 however, in consequence of the high price of building lots, this 

 plan can not so well be adopted. Yet this need not prevent 

 stables being made much higher between joints than is usually 

 practised, and giving windows and cross gauze-wire holes 

 sufficient for ventilation, constructed on the same principle as 

 the respirator for the human subject.] 



MANGERS. The trough in which the horse receives his 

 grain is termed a manger. It is made of wood, or of cast- 

 iron. Stone has been employed, but it forms a bulky clumsy 

 manger, and is not in any respect superior to iron. In Scot- 

 land the mangers are usually made of wood, and extend the 

 whole breadth of the stall. In many places these are giving 

 place to others made of cast-iron, which are durable, and, 

 when properly made, more suitable. Wooden mangers are 

 in constant want of repairs, and they are never perfectly sweet 

 and clean. Greater durability is given to them by covering 

 the breast with thick plate-iron ; but no contrivance nor any 

 care can keep them always clean, especially where the food 

 is often boiled. The wood imbibes the moisture, and the 

 manger becomes musty ; it has a sour, fetid smell, which 

 prevents many delicate feeders from eating, and disgusts all 

 horses. The iron manger lasts for ever. A little care keeps 

 it clean, and it is never sour when empty. The short iron 

 manger is not much dearer than the long wooden one, and its 

 superior durability renders it ultimately much cheaper. 



There is no occasion for having it so long as the stall is 

 broad. Wooden mangers, I believe, are generally made of 

 this length in order that they may be securely fixed. The 

 horses are tied to them, and their ends are supported by the 

 travises. Iron mangers are usually about thirty or thirty-six 

 inches long, and there is no need for having them longer. In 

 many stables, however, they are six feet long, which adds 

 greatly to their cost, without rendering them more useful. 

 They are^ seldom sufficiently deep, particularly for horses that 

 receive chaff or roots. Nine or ten inches in the ordinary 

 depth ; two or three inches more would improve them. In 

 breadth they should be twelve inches, which is about one 

 inch wider than usual. All this is inside measure. The 

 smaller- sized iron manger answers well enough for small 



