226 CYCLOPEDIA OF LIVE STOCK AND COMPLETE STOCK DOCTOR. 



the center of the stable and leading to the peak of the roof. Funnel- 

 shaped branches, opening behind each two or three horses, should connect 

 with the main trunk. If the main ventilating trunk be provided with 

 proper doors, it may serve to convey straw down from above for 

 bedding, and also hay, if open mangers are used ; and it may be 

 remarked, in passing, that open mangers are altogether the best, to our 

 way of thinking. 



An excellent additional means of ventilation to supply cool air in sum- 

 mer and warm air in winter, is Mr. Wilkinson's plan of sub-earth venti- 

 lation. This consists, simply, in laying an eight or ten-inch tile tube at 

 a depth of four to six feet under ground, and extending for 300 to 400 

 feet away, to an out-lot. The air coming from this pipe will always be 

 cool, or about fifty degrees in winter, and seldom more than that m sum- 

 mer. If four funnel-shaped openings are provided at the upper end of 

 the upright tube, it will always catch air from whatever direction the breeze 

 comes. This means of ventilation is especially valuable in country dwell- 

 ings, cellars and dairies. 



V. The Arrangement of Stalls. 



Large stalls are best, and each horse should have a separate stall. 

 Whether built cheaply or elaborately, the stalls should vary in width 

 from five feet, to five feet six inches, according to the size of the horse, 

 and should be ten feet from front to rear. The partition-posts at the rear 

 should ])G round, not less than five inches in diameter, with a gain cut 

 on the inside, to admit the ends of the plank forming the sides of the 

 stalls. The partition planks may lie betw^een cleats. The posts may in- 

 cline inward or not. If they do so incline, the bottom should be ten feet 

 from the wall, and the top eight feet. The sides should be four and a half 

 feet high, of two-inch plank, and if on the top of this there be placed a 

 strip of strong wo ven-wi re cloth, two feet higher, it will prevent ugly 

 horses from biting or gnawing each other, and at the same time allow 

 good-tempered ones to get their noses near together for companionship. 



The floor should be double, and the upper one should be in three parts ; 

 that is, the first three feet in front, of hard-wood, two-inch plank should 

 be laid close and nailed solid ; the other two sections, of narrow, hard- 

 wood plank are nailed on strong end-pieces, and with half-inch spaces 

 between. These are to be hinged to other plank nine inches wide, next 

 the sides of the stall, so as to shut together at the middle, to within half 

 an inch of each other. Thus, all tlie liquid matter passes directly through 

 to the solid and water-tight floor beneath, made of planed and grooved 

 plank, and ending just inside the posts, in a narrow gutter, whence it is 

 conveyed away to a tank. 



