STABLES AS THEY SHOULD BE. 



311 



to receive the occasional allowance of grass extends one foot beyond the 

 last dimension. The bottoms of the food receptacles are both raised six 

 inches from the level of the stable ; an arrangement which hopes to an- 

 ticipate any strain upon the muscles of the neck, should the animal be 

 more than usually compact in its developments. 



Certain horse proprietors are loud in their commendations of cut food, 

 which they assert can be eaten quickly, and, therefore, allows so much 

 longer a period for resting the body. Stable condiments also are adver- 

 tised as fattening and appetizing adjuncts. To both propositions the 

 author must object. The body's rest depends not upon the quickness 

 with which the contents of the manger can be swallowed, but upon the 

 ease with which they can be digested, after sustenance has entered the 

 stomach. The last function is not facilitated by the provender being 

 bolted ; nor does it at all depend on the shortness of the period in which 

 a certain quantity of victuals can be put out ^ of sight. As to those 

 stimulants which are supposed to increase the appetite and to favor the 

 accumulation of fat, carters having, for ages, been condemned because 

 they resorted to such nostrums, it is difficult to understand the reason 

 why these things are patronized, when openly compounded, puffed, and 

 sold by advertising tradesmen. 



T 



SECTIONS OF THE SHOOT LEADIN8 TO THE FEEDING TROUGH. 



a. The movable or eliding shutter, which, by a slanting surface made within the substance of the wall, 

 leads to the corn trough that is situated on the ground. 



6. The sliding shutter let into the wall, the lower compartment of which alone admits of an upward 

 motion. 

 c. The corn trough and slanting surface, guarded by the shutter, as seen from above. 



The capacity for rest, moreover, depends upon the constitutional 

 necessities of the body which is to enjoy it. The horse is a creature of 

 activity. It sleeps lightly, and is fitted to eat its food as it walks. The 

 quadruped requires little rest. To force those conditions, necessary for 

 the repose of weary existence, upon wakeful life, such as silence, soli- 

 tude, and darkness, is merely to increase the severity of that imprison- 

 ment which every English animal is born to undergo. It is torture, and 

 betrays only the ignorance of those by whom such cruelty is practiced. . - 



