VENTILATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 7 



In all stables the windows should be placed on both sides along the 

 length of the stable. It is then immaterial, as regards ventilation, how 

 many horses the stable is constructed to hold. The air has no greater 

 distance to travel than the breadth of the building. There should be 

 a window over the head of each horse two feet six inches in width and 

 three feet in height. Details as to the best construction of windows 

 and the means of obviating unpleasant draught from them when open 

 will be found under the head of Stable Fittings, in Chapter III. In the 

 plan marked H the sills of the windows are placed eight feet above the 

 floor. 



In single-line stables there should be a row of air-bricks in the front 

 wall about 14 inches above the floor, and a similar row in the back wall 

 above the window. For pattern of air-brick see Plate 8. 



By means of the air-bricks there will be a gentle and scarcely per- 

 ceptible stream of air, permeating the stables, a'nd passing out through 

 the upper apertures. 



In double-line stables with drop-back windows on both sides, the main- 

 tenance of pure air is not difficult. Windows, however, may require to 

 be closed, and therefore it is desirable to have a row of air-bricks on each 

 side above the windows. The lower ventilation will be best secured by 

 leaving a space of 1 inch between the door and the floor. 



The amount of air entering under these arrangements will undoubtedly 

 be considerable, but at no one point will it be so great as to create a 

 sensible and unpleasant draught. It will be gradually, gently, and con- 

 stantly diffused through the whole stable. 



Traversed openings are objectionable. They are very apt to get 

 choked, and it is very difficult to clear them out. 



If the reader will now kindly turn back to plans A, B, C, D, E, and F, 

 he will readily perceive the points in which those constructions are 

 respectively defective. 



Plans G, H, I, and K, show various views of a sixteen-stall stable of 

 the description which the author would recommend. 



Though the plans are drawn for a sixteen-stall stable, yet the same 

 construction is equally available and suitable for a less or greater number 

 of horses. Plan L shows a single-line stable for five horses on similar 

 principles, except that there is only one horse instead of two between 

 the opposite sources of air. 



13. Louvre boards. 



For ready means of affording exit for foul air no construction offers so 

 great facilities as an open roof with louvre boards at its ridge running 

 the whole length of the stable. In double-line stables the depth of the 

 louvre should be sixteen inches (plan H), which will afford a ventilating 

 outlet of about four feet of each horse. In stables in which the horses 

 stand in a single line or row the depth of the louvre may be reduced 

 one half. For reasons almost similar to those which have been urged in 

 regard to the admission of fresh air, it is very essential that the foul air 



