356 STABLES 



the manure, will be 9f/. to Is. per horse per week, which in a stud of 400 

 horses means a sum of £800 to £1000 per annum. 



Many grooms and stablemen have at first a strong objection to saw- 

 dust; but after a time most lose this, and many seem to prefer it to straw, 

 no doubt from the facts that it entails less work, that the coats of light- 

 coloured horses are less liable to be stained when it is used, and that it is 

 one of the best detergent agents for rubbing down horses' legs when muddy. 



Drains are inadmissible where saw-dust or peat-moss is used, as they 

 become blocked with dust or moss, and speedily become insanitary; but 

 the absence of drains gives rise to no inconvenience, as the urine is 

 readily absorbed in the dust or moss, and removed with the manure. 



An objection to the use of saw-dust is based on the fact that some 

 horses accustomed to a straw bed refuse, for a time at least, to lie down 

 either on a saw-dust or a peat-moss bed; but this reluctance can generally 

 be easily overcome by using at first a quantity of straw over the dust or 

 moss, and subsequently gradually reducing the amount of straw. 



A more real objection arises when horses are at rest in a loose-box, and 

 allowed to stand on a considerable thickness of either dust or moss. There 

 is a tendency to the generation of heat in a thick bed; and where this is 

 allowed, the feet of any horse standing upon it for a length of time are 

 more or less injured, the hoofs becoming brittle, hard, and dry. In the 

 stalls of working horses the bedding is swept up against the stall divisions 

 during the day and re-spread at night, and in this way all objectionable 

 heat is driven away and its further production avoided. But here the 

 injurious effect of the saw-dust upon wood, especially uj^on young wood, is 

 very marked, and the wood of unprotected stall-divisions against which the 

 dust lies is soon rotted away. This injury is easily prevented by extending 

 the iron kicking-plate, usually attached to the stall-division, forward to the 



manger. 



The quantity of saw-dust required to maintain a good bed is from a bag 

 to a bag and half per horse per week. 



Peat-moss. — JMoss litter has been used largely as bedding. It is less 

 costly than straw; but although its price has undergone a material reduc- 

 tion it is still more expensive than saw-dust. 



Opinions differ very markedly as to the value of peat-moss as a bedding- 

 material, some commending it unreservedly, others crediting it with in- 

 jurious effects. At a meeting of the Midland Veterinary Association some 

 members condemned it, and ascribed to it, more especially when used in 

 a thick bed, the production of a condition somewhat analogous to dry 

 rot in the hoof. Notwithstanding this, we find many practical men 

 continuing to use it and speaking favourably of it. 



