Book IV. BUILDINGS FOR LIVE STOCK. 40O 



turning on bolts, that tlie light may be shut out at pleasure. Many pave tlic whole stable 

 Avith stone, but that part which the horse is to lie on is often boarded with oak planks, 

 which should be laid as even as possible, and cross-wise rather than length-wise ; and 

 there should be several holes bored through them to receive the urine and carry it off un- 

 derneath the floor by gutters into one common receptacle. The ground behind should 

 be raised to a level with the planks, and be paved with small pebbles. There are mostly 

 two rings placed on each side of the manger, or stall, for the reins of the horse's halter to 

 run through, and a logger is to be fixed to the ends of these, sufficient to poise them per- 

 pendicularly, but not so heavy as to tire the horse, or to hinder him from eating ; the best 

 place for him to eat his corn in, is a drawer or locker, which need not be large, so that it 

 may be taken out at pleasure to clean it, by which means tlie common dirtiness of a fixed 

 manger may be avoided. Many people are against having a rack in their stables ; they 

 give the horse his hay in a trough bin, formed of boards with an open bottom. 



2663. A lofty stable is recommended by White (^Treatise on Veter. Med. p. 1.), fifi 

 teen or twenty but never less than twelve feet high, with an opening in the ceiling for 

 ventilation. The floor he prefers is brick or limestone, inclining not more from the 

 manger to the gutter than an inch in a yard. Some litter, he says, should always be al- 

 lowed for a horse to stale upon, which should be swept away as often as is necessary. 

 This, with a pail or two of water, thrown upon, the floor, and swept off while the horse is 

 at exercise, will keep the stable perfectly clean, and free from offensive smells. 



2661. The depth of a stable should never be less than twenty feet, nor the height less than twelve. The 

 width of a stall should not be less than six feet clear. But when there is sufficient room, it is a 

 much better plan to allow each horse a space of ten or twelve feet, where he may be loose and exercise him- 

 self a little. This will be an eflfectual means of avoiding swollen heels, and a great relief to horses that are 

 worked hard. "With respect to the rack and manger. White prefers the former on the ground rising three 

 feet high, eighteen inches deep from front to back, and four feet long. The manger, eighteen inches 

 deep, eighteen inches from front to back, and five feet in length. The rack he prefers being 

 closed in front, though some farmers prefer it open, alleging that horses when lying down will thus be 

 enabled to eat if they choose. A close-fronted rack, however, is better adapted for saving hay. The back 

 l)art of the rack should be an inclined plane made of wood ; should be gradually sloped towards the front ; 

 and should terminate about two feet down. Such a rack will hold more hay than ever ought to be put 

 before oae horse. The advantages of this rack are numerous : in the first place, the hay is easily put 

 into it, and renders a hay-loft over the stable unnecessary ; which ought to be an inducement to the builder 

 to make the stable as lofty as it ought to be, and render the ventilation unnecessary. All the hay that is 

 put into this manger will be eaten, but in the common rack it is well known that a large portion of the 

 hay is often pulled down upon the litter, atjd trodden upon, whereby a considerable quantity is often 

 wasted. It prevents the hay seeds or dust from falling upon the horse, or into his eyes; and what is of 

 considerable importance, though seldom attended to, there willibean inducement to the horse-keeper to give 

 the horse hay in small quantities at a time, and frequently, from the little trouble which attends putting 

 it into the rack. The saving in hay that may be effected by the use of this rack is so apparent, that it 

 need not be dwelt upon. A great saving also may be made in oats by so fastening the horse's head 

 during the time of feeding that he cannot throw any of them out of the manger. This kind of rack and 

 manger, from being boarded up in front, will effectually prevent the litter from being kept constantly 

 under the horse's head and eyes, by which he is compelled to breathe the vapors which arise from it. 

 It will also prevent him from getting his head under .the manger, as sometimes happens, by which 

 means, not unfre(|ucntly, the poll evil is produced. The length of the halter should be only four feet 

 from the head stall to the ring through which it passes : this will admit of his lying down with ease, and 

 that is all which is required. The ring should be placed close to that side where the manger is, and not in 

 the centre of the stall. The side of the stall should be sufliciently high and deep to prevent horses from 

 biting and kicking each other. "When the common rack and manger are 'preferred, the rack staves 

 should be perpendicular, and brought nearly down to the manger, and this may easily be done with- 

 out the necessity of a hay-loft, and the manger may be made deep and wide as described. 



2G65. The window of the stable should be at the south-cast end, and the door at the opposite end. The 

 window should be as high as the ceiling will admit of, and in size proportioned to that of the stable. In one 

 of twelve feet high, it need not come down more than four feet, and it will then be eight feet from the 

 ground, and out of the way of being broken. The frame of the window should be moveable upon a pivot 

 in the centre, and epened by means of a cord running over a pulley in the ceiling, and fastened by means 

 of another cord. "With a window of this kind, in a stable of three or four horses, no other ventilation 

 will be required : a person never need be solicitous about finding openings for the air to enter, where 

 there is sufficient room above, and means for it to escape. A stable thus constructed will be found con- 

 ducive to the health and comfort of horses, and will afford an inducement to the horse-keeper to attend to 

 every little circumstance which may contribute to cleanliness. He will not allow the smallest bit of 

 dung to remain swept up at one end of the stable, as it commonly is. The pails should bo kept outside, 

 and not standing about the stable, as they commonly are. If it is necessary to take off the chill from 

 water, it is much better, and more easily done, by the addition of a little hot water, than by suffering 

 it to stand in the stable ; and while the horses are at exercise, the litter should be all turned out to dry, 

 and the brick floor well washed or swept out. A little fresh straw may then be placed for the horses to stale 

 upon. Litter thus dried during the day will serve again as well as fresh straw for the bottom of the bed, 

 and be perfectly free from smell. The litter necessary to be kept under a horse that he may stale with 

 comfort, and without splashing himself, is not considerable, and may be changed once a day. A great 

 saving may be made in litter by turning it out, and drying it as described; and if a shed were built 

 adjoining a stable, it might be done at all times, and might serve also to exercise and clean a horse in 

 wet weather. 



2666. Neither dogs, fowls, nor goats, should ever be permitted to enter a stable j and dung should be kept 

 at a distance from it. A good contrivance in cleaning horses, is, to have two straps, one on each side 

 the stall, about one yard from the head of it. By these the horse may be fastened during the time he is 

 cleaned, by which he will be effectually prevented from biting the manger or the horse-keeper ; and being 

 kept back in the stall, the ma will be better able to clean the front of his fore-legs, chest, and neck, and 

 be able to move round him This is better than strapping him to the rack. 



2667. Farm stables in Scotland, the editor of The Farmer s Magazine observes, " are 

 constructed in such a manner, that all the horses stand in a line with their heads towards 

 the same side-wall, instead of standing ia two lines, fronting opposite walls, as for- 



