FARMERS" REGISTER— STABLE MANAGEMENT. 



71 



like one for hunters; but it should be roomy, clean, 

 and well ventilated, and every thing belonging to 

 it should be kept in its proper place. Neither is it 

 necessary that it should be completely stalled: 

 team-cattle arc generally quiet — if \-icious, they 

 should be got rid of. A ])air of horses, worked 

 together, Avill stand and Iced together quite as con- 

 veniently as in separate stalls, if allowed sufficient 

 room, and two in one stall are more convenient to 

 the carter. Horses gather their ieet under them; 

 and 5 feet, or 4i feet if the cattle be not large, is 

 sufficient width tor the fore-quarter. A division 

 between each pair is, however, desirable; but a 

 strong post and rail will be sufficient, without close 

 boarding, provided a partition be made about four 

 Ieet long, and extending from thence upwards at 

 least the full dejith of the manger, so as to inclose 

 both that and the rack. Hoi-ses, however, some- 

 times acquire a habit of not hnng down at all in 

 the stable, if they be not very conveniently lodged: 

 and as this cannot but prove highly prejudicial to 

 their health, they should, in such cases, be accom- 

 modated with roomy single stalls, or else turned 

 out under a loose shed. I)ouble stables, in which 

 horses stand heel to heel, arc objectionable; and 

 hay is better when cut fresh daily li'om the stack, 

 ns well as more economically used, than when 

 kept in lofls. Corner racks are preferable to those 

 •which extend along the front; and if bars be nailed 

 across the manger, at about a foot distance from 

 each other, they will prevent .the horses from 

 throwing out their food, which thej^ are apt to do 

 in search of the corn, wdien it is mixed with chaff, 

 as well as when they have filled themselves. 

 Every kind of food should also be administered in 

 small quantities at a time: when manger-meat is 

 given, and even Avhen racked up for the night, the 

 provender should be served out sparingly. A 

 cart-hoi-se, fed on dry food, will require from two 

 to three hours to consume his morning feed; the 

 men should therefore be early in the stable, and 

 all food should be punctually given at stated hours. 

 Regularity should also be observed in the hours of 

 their work. A farm-horse can well support ten 

 hours' labor in the day, provided he be not hurried, 

 and the time be divided into two equal periods, 

 with a rest of at least two or three hours between. 

 In the short daj's of winter, when that cannot be 

 allowed, the time ma\^ be prolonged to six or even 

 seven hours, but ought never to extend beyond 

 eight, with a short bait. 



Care is also requisite in watering horses in the 

 stable; and it should never be given either imme- 

 diately before or after their com, unless they first 

 eat some hay. On the road they may be watered 

 moderately, and then put gently into motion, in- 

 stead of allowing them to stand at an ale-house 

 door while the carter refreshes himself Some 

 persons imagine that hard spring-water is the most 

 wholesome for cattle, but horses invariably prefer 

 it soft. 



F'arm-stables are merely intended to protect the 

 cattle from the weather, for, being much exposed 

 to changes of the temperature, they should never 

 be kept hot; and, as fresh air is an essential ele- 

 ment of health, the windows should be merely 

 latticed, like those in granaries, and two or three 

 wooden funnels, according to the size of the sta- 

 ble, should be inserted from the ceihng through 

 the roof, thus forming so many chimneys for the 

 escape of foul vapor. The floors of all stables 



should be paved with either clinkers or table- 

 stones, laid close and even, and well bedded under 

 the foundation, as otherwise a portion of the urine 

 will be absorbed by the soil, and will emit a nau- 

 seous and unwholesome exhalation. The floor 

 should be slightly raised at the front of the stalls; 

 but the slope should not exceed 3 inches, and that 

 should be provided lor by raising the litter behind 

 them, or they -will stand in an unea.sy position. 

 The doors would be more conveniently placed at 

 one end of the stable than in the side, as the dung 

 will be more easily removed, and a li-ee passage 

 may be allowed to the urine by a gentle slant in 

 the gutter of the pavement at their feet, which 

 may then be conveniently carried off by a drain. 

 Some ver}' intelligent farmers keep their teams 

 entirely in open yards, or hammcls, sun-ounded 

 with well-littered sheds for them to run under at 

 pleasure; and experience has proved that, in this 

 manner, their health may be maintained as Avell, 

 if not better, than in stables. In the eastern dis- 

 trict of Suffolk, horses are seldom permitted to re- 

 main in the stable at night, but are turned out 

 when fed in the evening, by which treatmentthey 

 become hardy, and are neither subject to swelled 

 legs, nor to colds and inflammation.* Such a yard 

 does for the Avhole year — for summer soiling and 

 winter feeding — but it is attended with the incon- 

 venience of exposing them to accidents when 

 many are thus together; neither can their food be 

 so equally divided, nor can they be kept equally 

 clean. t 



Carters have the character of being proverbially 

 thieves — not in the most nefarious sense — but they 

 think it no harm to pilfer corn to pamper their 

 teams: thej" have no idea of any better mode of 

 feeding than to cram them to the utmost, and, if 

 allowed the free use of haj^, they will not only 

 waste it, but, out of mistaken kindness, do the 

 animals serious injury by overloading their sto- 

 machs. On every consideration, therefore, of 

 health and economy, they should be allowanced. 

 The chaff, as well as the corn, should be weighed 

 or measured, J and if hay be given in the racks, it 

 should be bound, and given out in trusses: the 

 expense of binding will be more than repaid by 

 the.saving in consumption. Marshall has justly 

 observed in his Minutes of Agriculture, that, by 

 stinting the quantity, the men become more care- 

 ful; the}' look upon it as something, and knov/ that, 

 if they lavish to-day, they w'ill want to-morrow; 

 thus the servant learns frugality, while his cattle 

 have their food regularly: he will give them a 

 little at a time, and see that they eat it up clean. 

 There is a sympathy between the human and the 

 brute creation, arising from acquaintance, which is 

 more easily observed than communicated. There 

 are carters who would sooner starve themselves 

 than their horses, and among stock-feeders in gene- 

 ral, it is obvious to common observation; though 

 this kindness does not extend equally to the be- 

 stowal of their labor, and, from habit, as well as 

 idleness, they are very generally neglectful of tlie 

 essential duties of cleanliness. Much of this must, 

 however, be attributed to their masters, who too 



* Suffolk Report, p. 219; Oxfordshire do., p. 283. 



t See also the plans of Cattle-sheds in the following 

 chapter. 



I From 5^ lbs. to 6 lbs. of short-cut chaff, exclusive 

 of corn, fill a busliel measure. 



