STABLING. 251 



A stable ought never to be built in a hollow, or near a 

 marsh, nor ought the foundation to be sunk in clay. These 

 things generate damp, and where this evil exists we may 

 expect to find coughs, farcy, glanders, bad eyes, and a 

 thousand attendant misfortunes. If the foundation of a 

 stable cannot be of chalk or well-drained gravel, the proper 

 plan will be to excavate, put in superior drains, and fill up 

 the area to be occupied with concrete. The surface drain- 

 age may be connected with the underground, if desired, or 

 mxay be quite distinct from it. Surface drains, if not con- 

 structed in a manner that will admit of their being cleaned 

 out from day to day, had best be dispensed with, and open 

 channels substituted, leading to the outside of the stable. 



Walls should be composed of bricks, glazed on the inside, 

 as such do not hold any dirt. Posts should be of oak, in 

 preference to iron — and of the same stout material divisions 

 of stalls and boxes should be made. If expense is not an 

 object, however, brick will be better still for the construction 

 of these. 



The roof of a four-horse stable should be at least ten 

 feet high, and that of a six-horse twelve to fourteen, which 

 will be ample. When too lofty, a cold atmosphere pre- 

 vails ; when too low there is need for very large ventila- 

 tors, which create a current, not always either safe or 

 pleasant. 



I do not at all approve of paved flooring, although it is 

 so general. Roughened asphalte is the best ; or a most 

 perfect floor may be made by laying a concrete foundation, 

 made up with gas-tar, some three or four inches thick, with 



