FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



dry; and harness in good order, but somehow 

 they don't. 



In the same way, by all the accepted laws re- 

 lating to building materials, cement or stone floors 

 should be the best, and brick buildings the warmest 

 or coolest according to the season ; but none of 

 these results necessarily obtain, and the scientific 

 erection is a dismal failure from every useful point. 

 Probably the most expensive and extensive 

 stable ever built in America, containing the most 

 costly collection of horses in the world, has 

 proved so absolutely worthless and unwholesome 

 that nearly every one of its valuable inmates 

 was taken sick with lung fever, many of them 

 dying, and those which recovered being rendered 

 valueless for racing purposes. Another enor- 

 mously costly set of farm-buildings, erected for 

 one of our millionaires had, when completed, no 

 place to store away hay, so that another building 

 had to be put up for the purpose. Many other 

 similar cases could be mentioned. 



What, then, are the essentials of a stable, and 

 how may they best be secured ? Convenience 

 for all work comes first, then ventilation, next 

 drainage, and then proper exposure and situation. 

 Convenience (for man and horse) is vitally neces- 



34 



