48 ANIMAL MANAGEMENT. 



acceptable. It should in any case have a wooden inner 

 roofing. 



Open Open roofs, i.e., without ceilings, may be closed along the ridge or 



roofs. jiave louvre board ventilation. Louvres consist of two or more over- 



lapping boards, separated from each other by a few inches, and set at 

 such an angle that rain and snow cannot beat inwards. 



The pitch or slope of the roof which is necessary varies somewhat 

 with the material employed, tiles which are thick requiring more than 

 slate ; but an angle of forty-five degrees with the horizon may be regarded 

 as a maximum. 



It is not possible to get all the qualities required in an ideal roof out 

 of any one material at present in use, the desiderata being : an equable 

 temperature in both hot and cold weather, noiselessness, non-inflammability 

 and durability. 

 Floors. Floors should be laid on a solid foundation, raised above the outside 



ground ; should slope from front to rear only so much as will admit of 

 drainage to the back of the stall ; should be absolutely impervious to wet ; 

 smooth, but not at all slippery, and durable. In the endeavour to comply 

 with these requirements, a bed of concrete four to six inches thick should 

 be first laid and the slope from the front to the rear of the stall made about 

 one in sixty, i.e., a slope of not more than two inches in ten feet. Any 

 floor not laid on concrete will sink in places, and harbour pools of urine. 



Materials Materials for paving : — 



for paving. ^j^ Cobblestones, set in cement, are uneven and never give the 



animal a good or level standing ; they are rarely laid on a 

 concrete foundation and consequently sink in parts ; the 

 supporting cement cracks and urine finds its way between. 

 They are a bad flooring in every way. 

 (2) Bricks are only suitable if thoroughly vitrified. Ordinary bricks 

 are very porous, rapidly absorb moisture, wear quickly and 

 unevenly, but are not slippery. 



Vitrified bricks, of which there are many kinds, are impervious 

 to wet, but some of them wear very slippery. There are, 

 however, others which do not become too glassy, and these 

 make excellent paving ; " Candy," "blue Stafford," " Dutch," and 

 "adamantine clinkers" being the names of familiar varieties. 

 All such bricks are grooved on the upper surface with one or 

 more lines and the edges chamfered, to give better foothold and 

 facilitate stall drainage. Such patterns are very various, but two 

 crossed lines on a brick which has chamfered edges appears to 



