OPERATIONS ON THE STABLE. 135 



cupied by any other horse till it has undergone purification, 

 which, in such a case, must be performed with great care. 

 Hot water, soft soap, and a hard brush, when properly applied, 

 will loosen and dissolve the dirt, and the whole may be re- 

 moved by boiling water and a mop, such as is used for wash- 

 ing coaches. The windows may be cleaned often. The 

 walls and ceiling may be whitewashed with a solution of lime. 

 When the stables are well lighted, a white color is rather 

 glaring, and is supposed to injure the eyes. A little clay dis- 

 solved along with the lime, produces a fine stone color. The 

 walls and roof, however, can not be too white, if the stable 

 has not sufficient light. 



A warm windy day should be chosen for this operation. If 

 the stable contain more than two or three horses, and is never 

 empty, only two stalls should be washed in one day. The 

 whitewashing may be done in one, and this process should 

 precede the wood-washing. When a large stable is all wash- 

 ed on the same day, it remains cold and damp for a week 

 afterward. The woodwork absorbs much moisture, and does 

 not part with it very readily. It is better not to do much at 

 a time, unless the horses can be kept out till the whole is 

 dry. 



The underground drains, where there are any, should be 

 examined occasionally before they become clogged, or much 

 injured by rats. Defects in the pavement, breaches in the 

 wood, decay of anything, or of any place, should be repaired 

 at once. Attention to these, and to many other little things, 

 of which a good stableman need not be reminded, saves a deal 

 of trouble and expense. An industrious groom will keep the 

 stable, and all belonging to it, clean and in order ; a lazy fellow, 

 at most only puts them in order, and everything goes wrong 

 at the intervals of his working fits. 



