422 AMERICAN FARMER'S HORSE BOOK. 



not so hard as the others, and is both cooler in summer 

 and warmer in winter. The only objection to it is the 

 loss of a great part of the urine, which, when mixed with 

 the dung and straw, forms the most valuable part of the 

 compost for manure. Earth floors should be raised five or 

 six inches above the level of the general surface, and are 

 best when made of sand or fine gravel. One of their man- 

 ifest advantages is the ease of the horse's legs and feet, on 

 account of their softness and coolness ; and another is their 

 economy, their cheapness. It is but iseldom that any other 

 floors are met with south of the Ohio and Potomac, and no 

 other kind is ever seen on the plantations of the cotton 

 States. At the South they are believed to be much more 

 conducive to health than any other. 



The plank floor is in general use at the North. In a cold 

 climate it is regarded as a protection from the frost supposed 

 to gather on the top of the ground, which thus becomes cold 

 and damp. These considerations have no weight at the 

 South, where the cold is rarely severe enough to freeze the 

 dirt floors. Our experience at the North is top limited to 

 enable us to pass any judgment upon the correctness of these 

 views as an objection to the earth floor. Plank floors are 

 very hard for the horse to stand upon, and, unless made quite 

 tight, are apt to be cold in winter. Many of the barn-stables 

 in the Northern States are merely loose floors, quite un- 

 jointed, through whose chinks and cracks the cold winds 

 come up in piercing currents, and the horse sufiers not a little 

 in consequence. They are usually so high from the ground, 

 too, that in summer they are very warm. 



The pavement floor, which is used only in cities, except 

 for its hardness, is quite unobjectionable. But this is not 

 felt as so serious a disadvantage where the horse spends 

 most of the day upon the hard pavements of the streets ; and 

 in many large stables floored in this manner, a coating of 

 saw-dust makes the surface soft and pleasant to tread upon. 

 Such floors are very cool in summer. 



Whatever the kind of floor adopted, it should be laid 



