26 CONSTRUCTION OF A FARM-HOUSE AND OFFICES, 



farmer on the estate of Ladykirk, having long used exactiy 

 the same buildings for his horses, and with very great suc- 

 cess. He had lost none by death for a number of years, 

 and they seldom have colds or any other disease.* His horses 

 lie in these open hammels in winter, and it is remarked, 

 that in frosty weather, when snow is falling, and lying on 

 the ground, the animals do not go under cover, but prefer 

 to lie out, with their backs and sides covered with snow. It 

 is well known, that if a horse is kept out in winter, he will 

 have no grease, nor swelled legs, and perhaps no other dis- 

 ease. These hammels seem to have all these advantages, at 

 the same time that they protect the animal from damp, and 

 prevent his back from being kept wet by heavy or long-con- 

 tinued rains. Every farmer who keeps a large stock of 

 horses, occasionally loses one by inflammation, brought on 

 by coughs and colds; but the horses of the farmer alluded 

 to, become aged, and he has not had occasion to purchase 

 a young horse for several years. It is evident, that horses 

 taken out of a warm stable, perhaps with some degree of 

 perspiration on them, when they stand behind a hedge in 

 a cold day, either to have their corn given them, or when 

 the servants are taking their dinner, must be much more 

 liable to catch cold, than it' they had been hardened by be- 

 ing kept in open sheds in the manner above described. 



The celebrated George Culley, (whose death the agricul- 

 tural world has recently had reason to lament) though he 

 approves much of the hammels., or sheds with a small fold, 

 or curtain, annexed to them, where only two pr three cattle 



* MrKerr fully confirms the advantages of this plan, having repeated- 

 ly seen these open-horse hammels at Mr John Herriot's, tenant at Lady- 

 kirk farm ; each shed holds two horses, with a niche for their harness.. 

 To each there is an open small straw yard. Each has a water trough, 

 and each a gate large enough to admit a cart to take out the muck. 



