334 STABLES 



THE COACH-HOUSE 



The coach-house need not be closely adjoining the harness- room, 

 though in small establishments it may be convenient to place it so. In 

 depth it should be about the same as the stable, i.e. 18 feet in the clear. 

 The length will depend upon the number and class of vehicles to be 

 accommodated. Although few carriages, even with lamps, exceed 7 feet 

 in width, the doors should never be less that 8 feet wide, and are better 

 made 9 feet or over. There is a great convenience in making the doors 

 to slide, as when hung with hinges they are liable to be blown about 

 by the wind. This can be accomplished by a little manipulation of the 

 piers, and the sliding doors are generally hung with sheaves at the top 

 to run along an iron bar. There should be small rollers at the bottom 

 to reduce the friction. The floor may be laid with smooth flags, either 

 natural or artificial, or concrete, but in this case especial care should be 

 taken of the quality of the cement and sand used, as concrete may be 

 very good or very bad according to the materials of which it is made. 

 Asphalt is sometimes used, but is liable to become soft in extremely 

 hot weather. Tiles are not desirable, for the risk of breakage. A coach- 

 house should always have the means of being warmed. As before stated, 

 in small places it sometimes adjoins the harness-room, and a slow-com- 

 bustion stove is placed in a recess in the division -wall between, but in 

 larger places a separate means of heating by hot - water pipes will be 

 necessary, and, as in the case of the harness-room, some provision should 

 be made for ventilation. 



TOOL-HOUSE 



The apartment for the hot-water boiler may be utilized as a coal- 

 house, and for the barrows, forks, shovels, buckets, and other tools which 

 form the necessary outfit of a stable-yard. Slow -combustion stoves are 

 now made with a boiler sufficient to supjjly hot-water pipes for the coach- 

 house and harness -room. It may sometimes be possible to combine an 

 auxiliary pipe for the coach-house with a set for the green -house, but 

 it is not desirable to sacrifice convenience in other respects for this 

 purpose. 



THE YARD 



The gates for the yard are also, like the coach-house doors, more 

 conveniently arranged to slide. They should be at the least 10 feet 

 in width, and may even ])e more where dignity of appearance is sought. 

 A side door should also be pi-ovided. 



