HINTS TO YOUNG BREEDERS 157 



our remarks to the case of 3 acres and a hovel. 

 The latter should face the south, and the former 

 must be well drained, as, indeed, all land should be. 

 The hovel or box should be 12 feet by 16 feet, 

 or even larger, and must have no angular projections 

 of any kind. The door should open outwards with 

 hooks in the wall to keep it back, and with rollers 

 on the doorcases to prevent accidents during ingress 

 and egress. It should also be cut transversely at the 

 height of 5 feet, or higher than the stable door, to 

 prevent any injuries arising through the mare or foal 

 endeavouring to leap through the half -door. Indeed, 

 to make assurance doubly sure, it is better to have 

 the upper portion secured with iron bars. As in the 

 stables, so in the hovel, ventilation is one of the 

 principal features. Holes in the wall, with little 

 wooden shutters made to slip backwards and forwards, 

 and placed as high as the side walls will permit, are 

 the simplest means of ventilation. Funnels through 

 the roof, made with four boards from 9 to 12 inches 

 wide, and having cupola tops to prevent rain from 

 descending, though not absolutely necessary, will be 

 found of great advantage. According to the calculations 

 of Boussingault, a horse consumes 13 lbs. 3 J oz. of 

 oxygen in twenty-four hours, or about five times as 

 much as a man, and most of the consumption takes place 

 in a confined stable or box. Therefore, it is essential 

 that all arrangements for the ingress of fresh and the 

 egress of foul air should be as near perfection as 

 possible in the case of delicate foals and their dams, 

 in order to supply the vital principles of the atmo- 



