316 STABLES AS THEY SHOULD BE. 



or about the stable should be sanctioned which would not accord with 

 the cleanliness of a home or with the SM^eetness of a dairy. No dust 

 should be suffered to accumulate in holes or on beams ; while the animals 

 are taking their early exercise, the flooring ought to be thoroughly washed 

 down every morning, and the wood-work should be scrubbed once every 

 week. 



A stable, to be the abode of health, cannot command too much air. 

 nor can it possibly admit too much light. The interior, however, should 

 not be whitewashed in accordance with the general fashion. This glar- 

 ing absence of color may, at first, look excessively clean, but it also 

 exposes the smallest neglect of purity, which cannot always be present 

 where animals are lodged. The cheapness of the wash may be its 

 recommendation with those who are very studious of economy ; but, in 

 the end, it proves a dear substitute for a better covering, as a white 

 surface causes that strain upon the optic nerve which renders blindness 

 a common malady among the inhabitants of snowy regions. 



Let the roof and walls be colored with a green which is made by 

 mixing blue and yellow together. The light will, by the green tint, be 

 partially absorbed, while the eye of the captive will be soothed by 

 gazing upon the hue which constitutes the livery of nature. The pig- 

 ment should not be purchased, for though the color which may be 

 bought will be probably brighter than any made at home, excessive 

 brightness is, in the present case, no advantage, and the more brilliant 

 compound is dangerous, because it may consist of arsenic combined with 

 copper. Or should a brighter color be very much desired, such can 

 now be obtained, which is uncontaminated with any preparation of 

 arsenic: though, probably, at a greater expense than that which is 

 easily made by mixing together damp blue and powdered yellow ocher 

 with size and water. 



The roof is slated ; but as this species of covering is always very hot 

 in summer and equally cold in winter, the temperature of the interior 

 will, in some measure, be less liable to such variations if the spaces 

 between the joists are filled with solid plaster. Over the last material 

 laths are nailed ; and the surface is then to be thinly ceiled. The laths 

 should, however, be of a stouter kind than those which are generally 

 employed; the reason of their introduction is to anticipate the possi- 

 bility of heavy lumps of plaster falling, and either injuring or frightening 

 the horses. 



The reader will now accompany the author to the back of the imag- 

 inary stable, which faces the north, and is divided from the last loose 

 box by a stout wall. 



The northern extremity is of the same width as the other parts of the 



