VENTILATION AND CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 11 



Great care should be taken to get bricks of the very best quality. The 

 best bricks at a somewhat higher price are cheaper in the end than an 

 inferior article at a lower price. 



In order to prevent the percolation of urine through the interstices of 

 the stones or bricks into the ground below, it is essential that all paving 

 should be laid in cement. 



Of late years various kinds of Concretes and Cements have been tried 

 for paving. They, as long as they remain perfect, have the great advan- 

 tage that no urine can percolate through and foul the ground underneath. 

 This advantage is so great and so essential to health, that the author has 

 no hesitation in recommending them. 



In all paving, whatever be the material used, the work must be very 

 carefully executed under close supervision by an architect or competent 

 foreman, or the result will be failure. 



The cost of making the substructure cannot be stated with any accu- 

 racy, as it will vary very widely according to the cost of the necessary 

 material in the neighbourhood. 



Care must be taken to get the materials from a thoroughly trust- 

 worthy firm. 



All paving requires to be laid on a substantial bed of concrete 6 inches 

 thick, and the concrete itself should rest on a bed of broken stones 12 

 inches deep. No paving will long stand the great moving weight of 

 horses unless it has a sound unyielding substructure. 



No paving, whatever the material employed, will be really sweet and 

 dry unless the whole of the bedding is removed from the stable at the 

 morning stable hour and turned outside. The paving must then be 

 swept thoroughly clean and left to the drying and purifying influence of 

 the air until the horses are dressed after their return from the morning 

 exercise, when they may be bedded down again. 



Every door and window in the stable should be set open whilst the 

 horses are at exercise. 



166. Litter sheds. 



A shed should be provided for the protection of the litter in wet 

 weather. This shed should be apart from, though near, the stable. If 

 placed against the stable wall the fumes arising from the litter will enter 

 the stable through windows. Again, though this may by care be avoided, 

 the litter generally blocks up the lower ventilating apertures. 



In fine weather the litter should be spread out in the open, when it 

 will, if turned over twice during the morning, get thoroughly aired and 

 dried. 



17. Floor of the stable to be higher than the ground outside. 



The floor of a new stable should be made eight inches higher than 

 the ground outside. We name this considerable elevation, partly be- 

 cause it facilitates natural and surface drainage, and in some degree 



