STABLES AND STABLE MANAGEMENT 93 



tradesman, we advise him to superintend the work 

 personally, and to see that such hints as we are able to 

 give him are rigidly acted upon. For example, if a 

 careless builder neglects to use sufficient non-conducting 

 material, the corrugated iron will, in hot weather, 

 turn the stable into a furnace. Many people prefer 

 painted cement to wood for the inside lining of the 

 walls, for the reasons that it is easier to keep clean and 

 more economical. AVe doubt the truth of both reasons, 

 while the appearance of wood is far superior to that 

 of cement. We feel certain also that horses do not 

 care to live in a place resembling an Ebenezer chapel, 

 and in regard to stables, the horse is the first person to 

 be considered. 



In regard to roofing, many people are in favour of 

 a thatched roof, for the reason that it is warmer in 

 winter and cooler in summer. We hold many objec- 

 tions to thatched roofs. In the first place, it is extremely 

 difficult to find a good thatcher out of Dorsetshire, and 

 a badly thatched roof is useless. In the second place, 

 they absorb more damp than any other kind of roof, 

 as anybody who has ever lived in a thatched house can 

 testify. In the third place, they are expensive in 

 regard to the initial cost, and constantly need repairing. 

 In the fourth place, they serve as breeding-places for 

 vermin ; and in the fifth place, they are a source of 

 danger from fire. The only argument in their favour 

 which we have ever heard is that they look pretty. 

 We agree that, to the artistic eye, a thatched roof is a 

 pleasant appendage to a country parsonage, though the 

 parson's fat cob may differ from us; but a thatched 

 roof on a gentleman's stable always reminds us of a 



