Stable Floors. 377 



and the soil in Letter tilth, Loth essential conditions for 

 large yields. The liability of animals to kick the bedding 

 off from the floor is not a sufficient reason against cement 

 floors. It is only when too little bedding is used or it has 

 not the right texture that the floor is left seriously exposed. 



459. All Wocd Floors. These floors are generally laid in 

 one of two ways, either close upon the ground, nailed to 

 stringers bedded in the earth; or else upon joists with an 

 air space between the floor and the earth. When laid in 

 either of these ways they are certain to wear out through 

 the tramping of the animals and 'the use of the tools in 

 cleaning the stables, but if conditions are favorable so that 

 rotting does not occur they may last as long as 6 to 12 

 years. 



It is oftener true that wood floors give out from decay 

 before they do from wear. Where the floor is kept con- 

 tinually saturated with moisture it will not decay; and 

 when kept continually dry it gives out only through wear, 

 but when it contains the right amount of moisture the 

 growth of moulds, causing the decay, takes place. 



When the floor is bedded in a close textured clay soil, 

 where the subsoil is close and all the time saturated with 

 water, decay will go on very slowly; but where the soil is 

 dry and open, and especially if this is the character of the 

 subsoil, decay may destroy the floor in 3 to 5 years. So, 

 too, where the floors are laid upon joists on the ground and 

 a dead air space left beneath, decay is certain to occur in 

 3 to 5 years, but if the joists are so arranged that there is 

 free circulation of air beneath, destruction from decay is 

 not likely to occur. 



460. Making Wood Floors Water Tight. Wood floors are 

 made so as to prevent water from running through them 

 by using more than one layer with some waterproof com- 

 position between them. For heavy floors matched plank 

 are laid and coated with a layer of coal tar roofing com- 



