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THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



form of partitions in the cow-stable. Our illustration gives a- 

 good idea of them. The floor on which the cows stand must 

 be as short as will answer, or they will drop dung on it and lie 

 down in it. For average sized cows I recommend that the floor 

 be four feet nine inches long, and a variation of a few inches 

 either way will adapt it to large or small cows. The floor should 

 be of such length that when the cow stands with her head in 

 the manger the dung will drop into the ditch. The cow in lying 

 down soon learns to lie at an angle in the stall so as not to pro- 

 ject over the ditch. Make the manure ditch eight inches deep, 

 and of such width that you can easily step across it, and then 

 the boots will never be soiled when you go into the stable with 

 a poor light. The ditch may be made deeper and wider for fat- 

 tening and stock cattle, so as to hold a week's droppings if de- 

 sired, for as we always pass through the manger in front of the 

 cattle in fastening or loosening them, there is no necessity of 

 going behind them, except to clean the stable. In arranging a 



stable for fattening cat- 

 tle two rows can stand 

 facing from each other, 

 with a manure ditch 

 between them six feet 

 wide, and large doors 

 at each end, so that the 

 wagon can be driven 

 through and the manure 

 taken directly to the 

 fields. The boards in 

 the floor of the manure 

 ditch should always run 

 lengthwise, so that the shovel will slip easily on them. Arranged 

 in this way, a building a little over twenty feet wide would ac- 

 commodate two rows of cattle, as two and a half feet is wide 

 enough for the mangers, a little less than rive feet for each raised 

 floor, and six feet for the manure ditch. 



For the cow stable I very much prefer the short, sloping par- 

 titions shown in the engraving, as the milker does not want to 



COW-STALLS AND MANURE DITCH. 



